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Occupational Zoonotic Risk at India's Human-Animal Interface: Statutory Origins and a Regulatory Pathway for the
1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Zydus Research Centre, Zydus Lifesciences Limited, Ahmedabad, India.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine
|July 14, 2026
Summary
India's large human-animal workforce lacks biological hazard protections. Zoonotic diseases are compensated, but hazardous industries aren't classified for prevention, creating a critical gap for occupational safety and health.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health and Safety
- Public Health Policy
- Zoonotic Disease Research
Background:
- India's workforce at the human-animal interface is vast and lacks enforceable biological hazard protections.
- A disconnect exists between recognizing zoonotic diseases as compensable and excluding hazardous industries from mandatory prevention under labor codes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze India's labor codes for occupational safety and health gaps concerning zoonotic diseases.
- To identify pathways for integrating prevention into the existing statutory framework for worker protection.
Main Methods:
- Statutory analysis of India's consolidated labor codes (Code on Social Security, 2020; Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020).
- Review of seroprevalence data for nine zoonoses (brucellosis, leptospirosis, avian influenza H9N2) among exposed workers.
Main Results:
- Zoonotic diseases are compensable, but industries causing exposure are not classified as hazardous, preventing mandatory safety measures.
- High seroprevalence rates (e.g., brucellosis 15.8%, leptospirosis 46.3%) indicate sustained, preventable exposure in animal handlers, agricultural, and poultry workers.
- The workforce acts as an unmonitored sentinel population for zoonotic spillover events.
Conclusions:
- Existing Indian labor laws create a compensation-prevention disconnect for occupational zoonoses.
- Executive action and leveraging digital public infrastructure can bridge this gap, establishing a State duty of care.
- A replicable model for low- and middle-income countries to enhance occupational biosecurity and worker prevention is proposed.
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