Can You Catch A Disease From Your Dog?
We all
love our four legged friends, but is there a possibility we may
catch something from them?
Most
everyone is familiar with tales of rabid animals, dogs included.
Animals that foam at the mouth, go insane and are more than willing
to bite. Chances are, you’ve never met a rabid animal, but you’ve
certainly heard of one.
If you’ve
ever been bitten by a dog, you’ll know that one of the things they
have to do is rabies testing on the animal to make sure there is no
way you could contract the disease from the bite.
Obviously,
if there’s this much concern, there is definitely the potential for
you contracting an illness or disease because of your dog.
Rabies is
what is called a Zoonotic Disease. Derived from the Greek word
“zoon”, or animal, and “nosos”, or ill, zoonotic diseases are
diseases that can be transmitted from a wild or domesticated animal
to a human (or vice versa).
While
these diseases are relatively rare, they are still something to be
considered when approaching strange or stray dogs as well as when
handling your own.
Even if
your animal does not appear to be ill, he could easily have a
parasite you aren’t aware of. For example, hookworms can be present
in the feces and (consequently) the salvia of an otherwise healthy
dog without your knowledge. If you or your child were to let your
dog “kiss” them while he is infected with hookworm, it could very
easily be spread to you or your child. This demonstrates the
importance of worming your animal early on and making sure your
animal has regular check ups.
Hookworms,
rabies, salmonella, roundworms, fleas, lyme disease, tapeworms,
giardia, ringworm and other bacterial, fungal and parasitic
illnesses are zoonotic and can be caught from your animal.
The best
solution here is preventative maintenance. For one, always be sure
to take your animal to the vet for regular check ups and for his
routine vaccinations. If your animal is not sick, there is no way
you can catch a sickness from him.
Also, do
not handle animal feces directly. Always wear gloves or use a doggy
poop bag when handling your animal’s waste. Also, always be sure to
pick up any animal waste in your home quickly if there is the
potential for your child to come in contact with it.
Wash your
hands frequently when handling any animal. At the very least, be
sure that wash your hands in between handling an animal and eating
or touching your mouth in other ways. Use caution around strange
dogs. Even if they appear healthy and friendly, they way very well
be carrying a parasitic or fungal infection which could be
contagious to you.
While it
seems like there is much to be wary about in terms of your animal
(or other animals) infecting you, remember that the list of zoonotic
diseases is very short in comparison to the number of diseases you
can catch from another human. As long as you are sure to worm your
animal, treat them with flea/tick treatment if necessary, take them
to regular vet check ups and stay hygienic when handling animals,
you have very little to worry about.
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Can You Catch A Disease From Your Dog? courtesy of Dog Articles