Across the globe, the 13 most common zoonoses were most impactful on poor livestock workers in low- and middle-income countries and have caused an estimated 2.4 billion cases of illness and 2.7 million deaths in humans per year in addition to their negative effect on human health. Zoonoses is a great public health concern and a direct human health hazard that may even lead to death. Among the human pathogens, about 61% are zoonotic in nature. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans or from humans to animals is classified as a zoonosis. The term “Zoonoses” is derived from the Greek word “Zoon”, which means animal, and “nosos”, which means illness. The newly emerged diseases in humans in recent decades were of animal origin and were directly associated with animal origin foods. The “Asia Pacific strategy for emerging diseases: 2010” report estimated that around 60% of the emerging human infections are zoonotic in nature and among these pathogens more than 70% originated from wildlife species. Most of the infectious diseases affecting humans are of animal origin. Humans, animals, and the environment play a significant role in the emergence and transmission of different infectious diseases. The implementation of One Health measures is highly recommended for the effective prevention and control of possible zoonosis. We also highlighted COVID-19, a newly emerging zoonotic disease of likely bat origin that has affected millions of humans along with devastating global consequences. In this review, we reviewed the etiology of major zoonotic diseases, their impact on human health, and control measures for better management. As time goes on, there are more emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases. Factors such as climate change, urbanization, animal migration and trade, travel and tourism, vector biology, anthropogenic factors, and natural factors have greatly influenced the emergence, re-emergence, distribution, and patterns of zoonoses. This includes a wide variety of bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, parasites, and other pathogens. More than 60% of human pathogens are zoonotic in origin. A zoonotic disease is a disease or infection that can be transmitted naturally from vertebrate animals to humans or from humans to vertebrate animals. Most humans are in contact with animals in a way or another.