A recent study reports that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – including obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular conditions, cancers, and degenerative joint disease – are increasing across companion animals, livestock, wildlife, and aquaculture species. The authors emphasize that these trends have significant diagnostic implications and require more coordinated surveillance and risk assessment.
In companion animals, recent surveys show that 50 to 60 percent of cats and dogs are overweight, contributing to a steady rise in metabolic disorders. Feline diabetes has increased from 0.4 percent in 2005 to 1.6 percent in 2020, an average annual increase of 0.8 percent. The review highlights the need for standardized diagnostic screening – such as routine glucose monitoring, body-condition scoring, and assessment for comorbidities – to detect early disease.
In livestock, the review identifies NCDs that directly affect productivity and herd health. Subclinical ketosis occurs in 30 to 40 percent of dairy cows during the transition period and is associated with a 6 percent reduction in 305-day milk yield. Early metabolic testing, including ketone and NEFA measurement, is recommended for timely detection. Additionally, osteoarthritis affects about 20 percent of intensively reared pigs, reaffirming the importance of diagnostic evaluation of gait, joint health, and welfare indicators.
Wildlife and aquaculture species show similar patterns. Animals exposed to industrial pollutants exhibit elevated rates of chronic disease, including liver tumor prevalence of up to 25 percent in some fish and marine mammals. These findings point to gaps in ecotoxicology diagnostics and the need for biomarker-based surveillance systems capable of detecting early toxic and metabolic injury.
To address these cross-species challenges, the authors apply a One Health/EcoHealth framework and propose four priorities:
Quantifying NCD prevalence across companion, production, and wild animals to establish diagnostic baselines.
Identifying mechanisms linking environmental, nutritional, and genetic risk factors to chronic disease onset.
Implementing risk-assessment models that integrate diagnostic data with environmental and management variables.
Developing tiered mitigation strategies, from individual case management to population and ecosystem interventions.
The review stresses the growing importance of early detection tools – including metabolic panels, inflammation markers, imaging, and exposure assays – to recognize chronic disease at reversible stages. It also notes the need for harmonized diagnostic criteria across species to improve comparative epidemiology.
The authors conclude that rising NCD prevalence in animals represents an expanding diagnostic challenge. Improved surveillance systems and integrated risk modeling will be essential for identifying at-risk populations and reducing the long-term impacts of chronic disease across animal sectors.
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