Effects Of Poor Air Quality on Domestic Animals

The history of the Earth, the composition of the atmosphere have not always been ideal at every moment, yet life has evolved as we know it today. Several huge environmental disasters occurred during the development of the Earth and countless forms of life were lost. 

From those few species that survived, new species have evolved "survival of fittest ".About 10 million years after the great Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction, the era of the dinosaurs suddenly had ended, the mammals subsequently entered the scene and prosper so successful that they dominated the life forms of the Eocene, which is about 55-40 million years ago. 

In the development of modern mammals, from the veterinary point of view also a by-product called a man was created. This species managed within a relatively short time to disturb the environment by the by-products of those activities that are euphemistically called cultural development.

It was the increasing global population that caused intensive livestock production practices. The countertrade of the huge production of meat, eggs, and milk resulted in the generation, accumulation, and disposal of large amounts of wastes around the world. Aerosolization of microbial pathogens, endotoxins, odors, and dust particles are inevitable consequences of the generation and handling of waste material of the food production chain, originating from animals. Next to the effects of the outdoor environmental air pollution, animals kept in huge facilities are exposed to and often diseased due to self-made indoor air pollution.

The effects of poor air quality on domestic animals principally can be divided in health damage caused by the in-door environment and by out-door air pollution. Pollutants may enter the system by inhalation or ingestion. In air pollution, mostly inhalation triggers the health problems, but occasionally deposition of particles from the industrial exhaust on pasture land may affect health directly. 

Eventually, this may result in toxic residues in meat, milk, or eggs without obvious clinical symptoms displayed by the animals producing these products. Problems with high dioxin levels in milk of dairy cows or zinc-induced arthritis in growing foals are examples of pasture grass contamination by deposits of smoke from nearby industrial activities.

The dog, the cat, and the horse are exposed to the same health hazards as their masters regarding air pollution. The comparative aspects of feline asthma and brought evidence that important similarities between human and feline response to inhaled allergens exist. The role of environmental aeroallergens, however, was only shown in a few studies, but evidence suggests that some environmental allergens can cause disease in both cats and humans. 

The prevalence of asthma had increased over the last 20 years in cats in a large urban city. This seems to have happened in man as well. Pulmonary silicosis results from inhalation of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) particulates. It is uncommon in horses; only in California, a case series have been published. The affected horse showed chronic weight loss, exercise intolerance, and dyspnoea .ultrastructural study suggests that Clara cells are the main target for antigens and various mediators of inflammation during bronchial changes that occur in horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO).

The indoor atmosphere in swine and poultry confinement buildings thus contains toxic gases, specks of dust and endotoxin in much higher concentrations than those in outdoor environments. Apart from minimal ventilation, poor stable design leading to poor homogeneity of ventilation causes locally stagnant air pockets. The smallest and most respirable particles are manure particles containing enteric bacteria and endotoxin. The concentration of these airborne bacteria and endotoxin, of course, is related to the level of pen cleanliness. In pigs, these combined effects of ammonia and endotoxin predispose the animals to infections with viruses and bacteria, both primary pathogenic and opportunistic species. Although food-producing animals appear to be capable of maintaining a high level of efficient growth in spite of marked degrees of respiratory disease. 

The more serious respiratory disease will occur if these primary infections become complicated with opportunistic bacteria. Common agents are porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), swine influenza virus (SIV), pseudorabies virus (PRV), possibly porcine respiratory coronavirus (PRCV), and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. Pasteurella multocida is the most common opportunistic bacteria, other common opportunists are Haemophilus parasuis, Streptococcus suis, Actinobacillus suis, and Arcanobacterium pyogenes.

Animals maybe involuntarily acting as sentinels for detecting potential harmful effects on the organism of indoor air pollution. From the scope of comparative pathology, diseases of domestic animals associated with adverse environmental factors may give clues to the pathophysiology of the health disorders of man-caused by air pollution.

References-

• Martin, A.E., Bradley, W.H., 1960. Mortality, Fog and Atmospheric Pollution (SectionI – General) of Bulletin Issued from the Office of the Ministry of Health. Ministry of Health, London.
• Mazumdar, S., Schimmel, H., Higgins, I.T., 1982. Relation of daily mortality to air pollution: an analysis of 14 London winters, 1958/59–1971/72. Archives of Environmental Health 37, 213–220.
• Van den Hoven, René. (2011). Air Pollution and Domestic Animals. 10.5772/17753.