Pet-Related Diseases and Human Health
Pets provide many benefits to humans. They comfort us and give us companionship. However, some animals can also pass diseases to people; these diseases are called zoonoses. Although animals can carry germs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasizes that it is important to know that you are more likely to get some of these germs from contaminated food or water than from your pet or another animal you encounter.
A variety of germs can be caught from animals, especially household pets. The rabies virus, which can infect cats and dogs, is one of the most serious and deadly of these microbes. Fortunately, rabies vaccine prevents animals from getting rabies. Vaccines protect people from accidentally getting the virus from an animal. They also prevent people who already have been exposed to the virus, such as through an animal bite, from getting sick.
The United States is currently experiencing a severe shortage of human rabies vaccine, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.Pre-exposure vaccinations of veterinary, animal control, game wardens, laboratory and other high-risk personnel are “on hold” until the vaccine shortage is resolved.Ronald Warner, DVM, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Texas Tech ...
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington state health officials are warning that some recently purchased cockatiels or other pet birds may pose a health risk to people who are exposed to them. Some birds shipped by a national distributor tested positive for avian chlamydiosis, and about 20 PetSmart stores in 11 Washington counties have received birds from this vendor. So far, there ...
BEL AIR, Md., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- About 14 percent of the U.S. population is infected with Toxocara, or internal roundworms, contracted from dogs and cats. That's according to the results of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study announced today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Philadelphia. The CDC study shows the transmission ...
Researchers at Ohio State will spend the next two years testing their theories about just how an AIDS-like virus in cats is able to resist the powerful medicines that are thrown against it. It’s one of the latest efforts at understanding one of the leading problem areas in medicine today -- antimicrobial drug resistance. When bacteria or viruses become resistant ...
For the last several decades, state and local public health authorities in the United States have been working tirelessly on the prevention and control of rabies. Coincident with the recognition of World Rabies Day on Sept. 8, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has formally declared the elimination of the type of rabies previously found in dogs in ...
A Nevada television station reporter tested two Las Vegas homes for various kinds of disease-causing bacteria, swabbing tile floors, carpeted areas, the soles of shoes, and even the family pet’s paws. The samples were taken to the Silver State Analytical Labs and scientists there found mold, fungus and coliform found ...
BALTIMORE -- New vaccine requirements will affect anyone who is applying for an immigrant visa for entry into the U.S. and anyone seeking adjustment of status for permanent residence. Applicants must show proof of vaccinations against vaccine-preventable diseases, as recommended by the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Passport Health, ...
As Midwest floodwaters recede and clean-up efforts get underway, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) offers advice to help reduce the risk of infection:Nothing beats hand hygiene – It’s critical to remember to practice basic hand hygiene during the emergency period. Always wash your hands with ...
Georgia Tech associate professor Pinar Keskinocak, graduate student Faramroze Engineer and executive secretary of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC Larry Pickering (left to right) display the new online tool they developed that allows parents and pediatricians to ensure that the missed vaccines and future vaccines are ...
Research shows that only 20 percent of consumers use thermometers, and a mere 30 percent are aware that they should have them in their refrigerators. Several experts addressed home-based food safety issues in “Consumers’ Refrigerators: A Danger Zone” Monday at the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual meeting and food expo ...
Bacteria and viruses are the microscopic organisms – otherwise known as germs -- that are responsible for causing and transmitting illness and disease. These microbes are so small, that according to the American Society for Microbiology, if the smallest of all microbes was the size of a baseball, an average bacterium would then be the size of the pitcher's mound, and just one of the millions of cells that make up your body would be the size of the ballpark!
