 The world loves animals. In 2015, 57% of people worldwide owned a pet, and it's estimated that 1 billion people globally work with animals. But our close relationship with animals comes at a risk. Zoonotic disease. Zoonotic disease, also known as a zoonosis, is an infectious disease that is jumped from an animal to humans. Around 60% of human infections are estimated to have an animal origin. Zoonotic diseases represent a major global public health problem due to our close relationship with animals in agriculture, as pets, and in the natural environment. There are four things that are contributing to the rise in zoonotic diseases. Urbanization and the destruction of natural habitats, climate change, food production, and travel and transportation. Future zoonotic outbreaks might be inevitable, but with the right precautions it should be possible to ensure that they do not lead to pandemics.