Zoonotic Diseases

            Zoonotic Diseases, also known as “Zoonoses” are infectious diseases of animals (usually vertebrates), that can naturally be transmitted to humans. Major modern diseases such as Ebola virus disease and influenza are zoonoses. Zoonoses can be caused by a range of disease pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites; of 1,415 pathogens known to infect humans, 61% were zoonotic. Most human diseases originated in animals; however, only diseases that routinely involve animal to human transmission, like rabies, are considered as zoonoses. Zoonoses have different modes of transmission. In direct zoonosis the disease is directly transmitted from animals to humans through media such as air (influenza) or through bites and saliva (Rabies). In contrast, transmission can also occur via an intermediate species (referred to as a vector), which carry the disease pathogen without getting infected. When humans infect other animals; it is called reverse zoonosis.
            There are five zoonoses I want to talk about today, and these five are normally passed from animals to people rather than the reverse. These five diseases are relatively common and can be acquired from your puppy or kitten, or adult dog or cat. The primary means of contamination for these diseases is understood to be fecal-oral, but this obviously applies to the way in which your pet acquires the infection rather than the manner in which the disease is transmitted from your pet, to you. People pick up these infections in a variety of other ways.

1)      Hookworm: Hookworms are primarily transmitted fecal-orally to animals. Your pet may eat contaminated feces or dirt, or he might run through contaminated soil, then lick his paws and ingest the eggs in that manner.

2)      Roundworm: Roundworms are large, and spaghetti-like in appearance. And they can create a full-blown infestation in your pet before you know they’re there. Because humans are not the perfect host for roundworms, they tend to travel through the body and create problems like organ inflammation.

3)      Toxoplasmosis: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease any warm-blooded vertebrate can acquire, however, infections are most common in cats and humans.

4)       Cryptosporidiosis: or crypto for short, is a protozoan parasite. This parasite loves water. Infected animals can transmit crypto by defecating in ponds, lakes and other bodies of water.

5)      Lyme Disease: Lyme disease is a vector-borne illness. The vector is the vehicle of transmission, in this case it is the Ixodes tick, also known as the deer tick or black-legged tick.

You can learn all about other common Zoonotic diseases here… http://wildliferehabinfo.org/Zoonoses_MnPg.htm

            There are many ways to prevent zoonotic diseases. Ask your veterinarian for information, and about local risk factors from pets and wildlife. Be sure that your pets, especially young puppies, are properly treated for worm infections (they can get infected by their mothers and should be treated from an early age), and that all your pets are receiving a recognized preventive medicine. Clean your hands after contact with animals. This is especially important for young children, who must be taught proper pet-handling technique Keep your pet's environment (bedding, etc.) clean and disinfected. Pick up after your pets, as feces is a primary source of contamination with parasite eggs of the environment. Keep animals away from children's playgrounds, and cover all sand play areas to avoid contamination. Footwear is recommended in public playgrounds (long pants and gloves are also recommended for gardening, crawling under buildings, in dense vegetation, etc.). Support local leash laws and no-dog park zones for children. You can find many other ways to prevent zoonotic diseases here…http://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/zoonotic-diseases.html

Thanks for reading!  I'll be back next Sunday!