Diseases You Can Catch From Your Pets

Can your dog spread disease with ease? And what about your cat? Are there man-eating microbes oozing from every one of your cat’s hair follicles?

There are diseases you can catch from your pet and you need to be cautious. However, in reality, you are much more likely to get sick from kissing another person than your dog!

Diseases you can catch from animals are called zoonotic diseases. Dogs and cats can assault your health with various bacteria, several different types of worms, a fungus or two, or even a menagerie of biting and crawling insects.

Bacterial infections

The bacteria pets can share with you mostly cause abdominal upsets. These can vary from diarrhoea and vomiting through to abdominal pain and fever. One bacterium, Campylobacter, can cause protracted gastroenteritis with quite severe abdominal pain which can go on for some time. Salmonellosis is another zoonotic disease that also causes illness in humans. It is more commonly contracted from birds and only rarely from other pets but it can occur.

Can worms in pets cause human problems?

Can dog and cat worms infect humans? Yes, but they can easily be prevented. Some interesting effects occur when animal worms get inside humans. The first is a condition called cutaneous larva migrans, also known by its grizzly, descriptive nickname of ‘creeping eruptions’. This is caused by the dog or cat hookworm larvae which burrow through the skin to enter the body of pets, and occasionally, of humans, too. In pets, they then travel through to the intestine where they develop into adult worms.

In humans, though, the larvae lose their sense of direction and travel under the skin instead. There they cause the development of snakelike tracts which blister. This usually occurs where the larvae enter the skin, such as on the feet, legs, hands and buttocks. These tracts are very itchy and they develop at the rate of one to two centimetres per day for about fifty days.

Gardeners, plumbers and children playing in soil or sand infected with dog or cat faeces are those most at risk, although reports of ‘creeping eruptions’ in Australia are sparse.

Another similar disease is that called visceral larva migrans. This is caused by migration of roundworm larvae and is more serious than the ‘creeping eruptions’ of the hookworm. The roundworm eggs that are produced by infected puppies and kittens mature in the soil for a few days. When ingested, commonly by children playing in contaminated sandpits, the eggs hatch and the larvae migrate. Again they get lost, but this time they lodge in organs within the child’s body. Children form one to four years old are mostly affected. The larvae can affect almost any organ, including the brain, kidneys and eyes. Signs of the condition include fever, cough, loss of appetite, and failure to gain weight. Muscle, joint and abdominal pain also occur and the more serious signs are neurological disturbances and even blindness. The larvae live for up to a year in humans and the symptoms of the disease can therefore persist for some time.

Even the humble tapeworm can affect human beings. The tapeworm is a segmented worm which is transmitted when a pet owner ingests a dog flea infected with a juvenile form of the worm. Three weeks earlier, the flea would have eaten one of the many tapeworm eggs passed from a dog in a tapeworm segment. While these worms can be quite large, they don’t cause huge problems and people often don’t know they have them. Sometimes people notice they are passing tapeworm segments in their stools and sometimes segments migrate from a person’s anus where the segments may cause itching. Diarrhoea and abdominal pain may occur.

The last of the dog worms that can affect humans is the Hydatid tapeworm. This worm can cause the development of large, dangerous cysts inside a person’s body. Ask your veterinarian if there is a risk of Hydatids in your area and it can be easily prevented with regular worming of your dog.

Fungal infections – ringworm

Probably the most common zoonotic infection is the fungus known as ringworm. While it’s more commonly spread from cats to humans, it can be spread by dogs as well. In humans it causes the development of a small, red itchy rash, which spreads outwards. The centre of the rash become scaly and then heals, while the rim continues to expand.

In pets, it causes hairless patches to develop. In cats and long-haired dogs, the fungus is often difficult to detect. It is easily treated in humans with antifungal creams.

There are many other diseases that your pet can share with you. One, Toxoplasmosis is quite important, especially for pregnant women.

Keeping yourself healthy

Don’t be too concerned about zoonotic diseases as they can easily be prevented. Follow these simple rules and you and your family will be safe:

1. Wash your hands after playing with pets
2. Don’t let pets lick you, especially on the face and hands
3. Cover sandpits when not in use and wear gloves when gardening
4. If you have a dog, it’s wise for children to wear shoes when in the garden
5. Worm your pup every two weeks until it is 3 months old, then every month until it is 6 months old, and thereafter every three months. Use a monthly heartworm preventative that also kills intestinal worms but be aware that none of these will kill all intestinal worms, so a three monthly all-wormer is still important
6. Remove all of your pet’s deposits from the garden on a daily basis
7. If your pet is unwell, especially if it has diarrhoea or skin disease, consult your veterinarian
8. Keep your pet free of fleas, as fleas transmit tapeworm

---

By Dr Cam Day BVSc BSc MACVSc
Last updated on 18 May 2020

Back to Articles