Zoonosis is the transmission of a disease from an animal to humans. Zoonotic diseases and parasites can also be spread from humans to animals, and that is called reverse zoonosis.
Often a zoonotic disease is spread by the feces or saliva of an animal, but some zoonotic diseases are spread by contact with blood, as in the case of mosquitoes, who spread blood borne diseases like lyme disease or West Nile virus.
Both domestic animals and wild animals can spread disease to humans.
For example, animal to human disease like rabies can come from wild animals who are infected. And you can get zoonotic diseases like salmonellosis or parasites from dogs, cats, and farm animals like pigs and cattle.
Fortunately, good hygiene can eliminate much of the danger of contracting zoonotic diseases from your pets and farm animals.
Because we have close contact with animals, humans can get zoonotic diseases.
Zoonosis or animal to human disease is fairly common. Disease is easily spread from domestic pigs to humans, and many of our human diseases were first seen in pigs, who serve as vessels or places where disease mutates and develops into a new strain. A recent example of this is the H1N1 flu virus, also known as Swine Flu.
H1N1 Swine Flu – Perhaps the most widely known zoonotic disease, H1N1 flu became a household word—world-wide…
What is Salmonella – More common than you might think, salmonella can easily spread from animals to humans—and vice versa, in which case it is called reverse zoonosis…
Hantavirus
Plague – We think of plague, spread from fleas on rats to humans, as being historical. But plague is still with us…
Rabies – Rabies can be spread from wild animals to domestic animals and also to humans…
Zoonotic Parasites
While zoonotic diseases can be spread from humans to animals, so can parasites. Common parasites like worms are often spread from domestic cats and dogs to their owners.
And, people living on farms have contact with saliva and manure of farm animals. Saliva and manure can contain parasites and eggs that can be spread to farm workers.
Here are some common zoonotic parasites:
Trichinosis
Ringworms
Round worms
Hook worms
Toxoplasmosis
Blood Borne Zoonotic Diseases
A vector is something (flea, fly, tick, mite, mosquito) that picks up a parasite from an animal and carries it to another (like a person). The parasites they carry from one to the other—are often found in blood.
An example would be Rocky Mountain fever that is carried from an animal to a person, by a mosquito—who bites both the animal and the person.
Dengue Fever Symptoms - Dengue fever is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. Here are symptoms that a person might have...
Prevention of Zoonotic Diseases and Parasites
You can prevent most zoonotic diseases by taking some simple precautions:
Wash hands after touching dogs and cats, cleaning a litter box, handling farm animals and manure, after using a bathroom, or handling raw meat or fish.
Keep sand boxes covered to prevent cats from defecating in them. Children often get hook worms or round worms from contaminated sand boxes.
Cook meat and fish thoroughly.
Wear shoes. Hookworms can enter the body through your feet.
Wear mosquito repellent.
Only drink water that you know is safe.
Zoonosis or zoonotic parasites can often be prevented, by good hygiene such as washing hands frequently or being careful to drink safe water. Taking the precautions listed above can save your family from some of the nasty diseases and parasites that we can get from animals.
by E. Fuller Torrey
