"Russia has just announced a ban on all kangaroo products from the 1st August, citing consistent contamination." Lately our politicians have been "trying to convince the Chinese to buy the rejected Russian export kangaroo slush. " (Pat O'Brien, ex-butcher and current President of Wildlife Protection Association of Australia - Patron Steve Irwin).

The simplest definition of a zoonosis is a disease that can be transmitted from other vertebrate animals to humans. A slightly more technical definition is a disease that normally infects other animals, but can also infect humans. The majority of pathogen species causing disease in humans are zoonotic - estimated at 75% of all human diseases in Australia. Wildlife species can also serve as natural hosts for certain diseases that affect humans (zoonoses).