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Animal-borne diseases: Beware, your furry friend may give you ringworm and more

Animal-borne diseases: Beware, your furry friend may give you ringworm and more
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Pets are great to have around and they are amazing companions too. But, unfortunately, you may also be unwittingly putting your health at risk if you are not too careful. Read on to know about some animal-borne diseases.

Written by Paras Hemrajani |Published : October 26, 2019 5:26 PM IST

Your pet might not be as loyal a friend as you think he is. Animals and pets are very important for children, especially while they are growing up. They teach kids values such as caring, responsibility, gentleness and respect. Not only adults, but kids too want companionship, affection and relationships. While there are several advantages of having a pet, there are also some concerns. The biggest concern are the infections that are transmitted from animals to humans.

HOW PETS TRANSMIT DISEASES

Viral infections like distemper, canine parvovirus and heartworms cannot enter the human system naturally. But they can enter an animal's system. Pets carry these bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi with them and pass them on to humans. These germs can enter the human body when their pet bites or scratches them. They can also be transmitted via animal faeces, saliva or urine. Children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with a compromised immunity are at a greater risk of catching an animal-borne disease.

DISEASES YOUR PET CAN GIVE YOU

Since dogs and cats are the most common pets found in a household, we will focus on the infections that they carry and transmit to humans.

Ringworm

Ringworm is a skin infection, which is caused by fungus in soil. This fungus gets transmitted to humans from dogs or cats through contact. Skin infection mostly presents itself in the form of scaly, reddened, itchy rash. Also known as tinea corporis, ringworm is easy to treat with anti-fungal medicines.

Campylobacter

This is the most common animal-borne infection that spreads in human. Caused by transmission of Campylobacter jejuni bacteria, through faeces of dog and cats, it can cause diarrhoea, fever, abdominal pain, cramping and fever in people. This bacteria lives in the intestine of these pet animals. This infection leaves the system on its own and there is no requirement for any treatment.

Cat scratch disease

As the name suggests, this disease is transmitted when a cat carrying the Bartonella henselae bacteria bites or scratches a human. It can also be transmitted if the cat licks an open wound. Cat scratch presents itself with fever, headaches, tiredness and swollen lymph nodes. It is super-easy to treat. All you need is a single antibiotic course.

Toxoplasmosis

Caused by a single-celled parasite, toxoplasmosis is usually transmitted through pet cats. Cats usually catch this infection, as this parasite lives in rodents and cats eat rodents. This parasite can be transmitted to humans through contact with cat faeces. If you are pregnant, then it is strictly advised to not clean your cat litter on your own. Toxoplasmosis infection can enter your body and infect the baby. This may cause a miscarriage, foetal blindness and several other birth defects in the baby.