Animal Diseases Transmisible to Humans
My-Dog.info > Dog Diseases, Bites, Worms & Ticks
People can catch some diseases from their pets. Have you heard
of ringworm, toxoplasmosis or canine roundworms? All of these are
zoonoses, a term for animal diseases that can be shared between
animals and humans.
Rabies is the best-known viral zoonosis in
Canada, and the most deadly. Rabies infects any warm-blooded
mammal via bite wounds or saliva contamination of wounds or skin
abrasions. Bats can transfer rabies via a bite, though some cases
have been reported where no bite was known to occur, but the bat
was known to be in the room with a sleeping person. Skunks and
raccoons are common wildlife vectors for rabies, as are roaming,
unvaccinated feral cats and dogs. Vaccination is very effective,
and is mandatory for pets in many areas, and keeping your pet on
a leash outdoors will help to prevent contact with roaming rabid
animals. An animal with rabies may have the traditional
"furious" aggressive form, but the disease may show up
as an overly friendly animal, a dazed animal, (the so-called
"dumb" rabies) or even a pet with an apparently
paralyzed tongue (salivating, mouth and tongue drooping).
Ringworm is a skin disease that plagues cats
especially. Although called ringworm, this condition is actually
caused by a fungus that can spread to people. Humans with
ringworm have red, scaly areas on their skin that are sometimes
itchy and may have a traditional "bulls-eye"
appearance. Though not a serious problem, ringworm needs to be
treated.
Clearing ringworm from catteries or households can be very
difficult indeed since cats can be asymptomatic (with no symptoms
showing) carriers. The fungus spore form can also get into
heating ducts, carpeting and furniture of the home and is quite
resistant (lasts years). Many cats only display scurfy or scaly
dandruff, with small patches of hair thinning or loss if they do
show any symptoms at all.
Toxoplasmosis is a disease people can pick up
from cats shedding the single celled parasite Toxoplasma gondii
in the cat's stool. "Toxo" is a concern for pregnant
women because it can cause serious birth defects or spontaneous
abortion. Most people actually get infected with toxo by handling
raw meat. Gardening in soil contaminated with cat feces or eating
incompletely cooked meat are also important sources. Contact with
the stool of infected cats is less commonly a source. All
pregnant women should seek advice about this disease from their
doctors and not clean the cat box during pregnancy as a
precaution.
Cats normally only shed the organisms for a short period
following the initial infection, and cat exposure to the
toxoplasma organisms most commonly occurs in young, actively
hunting, outdoor cats.
Pets commonly have large worms, called roundworms,
living in their intestine. People who inadvertently consume
roundworm eggs can be infected. Once the eggs reach the person's
intestine, they hatch. The larvae produced by these eggs burrow
into, and sometimes through the intestinal wall and migrate
through the body. The migrating larvae cause disease if they
migrate through the abdomen (visceral larval migrans). Blindness
may result if the immature worms reach the eyes (ocular larval
migrans).
Children are more susceptible to infection than adults because
they play on back lawns and in sand boxes where contaminated
stool is likely to be found. To reduce the risk of human
infection, pets should be dewormed regularly.
Hookworm, another intestinal worm, can cause
skin (cutaneous larval migrans) infection in people, but
intestinal hookworm disease is extremely rare. Commonly,
transmission occurs when children play barefoot in moist,
contaminated soils.
Though the common tapeworm species are not
considered significant zoonoses, hydatidosis or hydatid disease,
caused by an uncommon tapeworm (Echinococcus granulosis), and
found in wild and domestic dogs and cats causes significant human
disease.
Lyme disease (Borreliosis) is a disease of
dogs and wildlife infected with Borrelia bacteria via a bite from
a tick vector. Lyme disease may cause arthritis, and heart
disease. It is uncommon unless the pet or person undertakes
travel, particularly in higher prevalence areas such as the
northeastern US.
Only recently has the agent causing cat scratch fever
been identified, and in humans, this agent causes lymph node
changes and ulcers at the site of entry. Cats may not show any
signs of illness. As the name implies, the most common route of
transfer is by a scratch, but contact with cats, or bite wounds
are also considered effective paths of transmission.
Giardia, Salmonella, and Campylobacter
are bacteria found in the intestines of some animals, and can
cause human disease. Pets and livestock may shed some of these
agents in the stool during clinical disease, in diarrhea, or in
some cases, unaffected carriers may shed these in normal
appearing stools. They may contaminate the environment, and
transfer may be indirect via contaminated water, soil, or other
means.
Reprinted with permission from www.animalhealthcare.ca
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