Sarah Southard, DVM

by Sarah Southard, DVM

I Could Get WHAt from my pet?!

First Published September, 2020 A few weeks ago, a friend of mine called with an animal question. A friend of hers had found some young kittens and was concerned about her children handling the kittens before they had been dewormed. She feared her children would become infected with intestinal worms by handling the kittens. My friend said, “I’ve never heard of this in my entire life.” I explained that yes, humans can become infected with certain internal parasites of cats, dogs, livestock, and other animals, but that the transmission usually does not occur from simply handling the animals. I further explained, however, that if the kittens happened to be infested with external parasites, those could potentially be directly transmitted to anyone who handled the kittens. World Zoonoses Day is observed on July 6 every year. This date is the anniversary of the administration of the first vaccine ever given to protect against a zoonotic disease. It was a rabies vaccine given by Louis Pasteur in 1885. Zoonoses are diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. There are many different diseases which fall into this category and they may be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or internal or external parasites. Fortunately many of the few hundred zoonotic diseases are rare, but there are several which can occur fairly commonly in our companion animals and livestock. We are all familiar, on some level, with rabies. As mentioned above, it is a zoonotic disease which is caused by a virus that infects mammals, including humans. Because of the public health risk associated with rabies, all dogs, cats, and ferrets are required by law to be vaccinated to protect against it. Another common zoonotic disease is ringworm. The name is a bit misleading as it is not a worm at all, but is instead a fungal infection. It can affect companion animals, livestock, or wildlife and can easily be spread to humans who have contact with an infected animal or the environment it frequents. I once contracted ringworm from a patient that I was treating. Other zoonotic diseases include toxoplasmosis (commonly discussed with pregnant women), Lyme disease (transmitted by ticks), round worm infection and salmonellosis (food poisoning, anyone?). This list is far from exhaustive. So, what does all this mean? Who is at risk? How do we minimize the chance that we will get sick from our animals? While young children, the elderly, and individuals with a compromised immune system are at higher risk than the general population, everyone who has contact with animals or their environment is potentially at risk of contracting zoonotic diseases if the animal is infected. As the old adage goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Many (but not all) zoonotic diseases can be prevented in animals by proper use of vaccines, flea and tick preventives, and with routine deworming. Follow your

veterinarian’s recommendations regarding preventive health screenings and treatments. Contrary to popular belief, we are not just interested in lining someone’s pockets when we make those recommendations. They are made based on sound science and with the best interest of your pet and your family in mind. We much prefer to see happy, healthy animals in our line of work!

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