Everything You Need to Know about Diseases Transmitted by Pets
You might be surprised to learn that many diseases can be transmitted from your furry friends to you. Even seemingly healthy pets can carry harmful conditions that you can contract. Keeping up with their preventive care is crucial to avoid your pet becoming a source of illness.
How do these diseases spread?
Pets can pass germs to people in a variety of ways:
– Through direct contact with saliva, blood, urine, feces, or other bodily fluids from an infected pet.
– Indirect transmission occurs when you come in contact with something an infected pet has contaminated.
– Vectors, like ticks and fleas, can be attracted to your pet and be carried indoors to bite and transmit disease to you.
– Food, like undercooked meat or eggs, as well as raw fruits and veggies, can be contaminated by pets’ feces and cause sickness.
– Water contaminated with feces or urine can result in diseases being passed to you.
What are the diseases you can get from pets?
Pets can pass numerous illnesses to people; here are just a few examples:
– Bacteria, such as salmonella, E. coli, and tick-borne disease.
– Viruses, including rabies.
– Fungi, such as ringworm.
– Intestinal parasites, including hookworms, tapeworms, giardia, and toxoplasma.
– External parasites, like fleas, ticks, or scabies.
Pets can expose their human and animal family members to various pathogens and parasites. To protect everyone in your household, whether two- or four-legged, you should schedule your pet’s regular preventive care visit. Feel free to contact our team; we’ll help ensure everyone stays safe and healthy.