Zoonoses or What can you catch from your pet

Zoonoses are diseases common to both animals and humans. Are you interested in how such a disease can be transmitted, which ones are we at risk of in the Czech Republic or how to defend against them?

There are around 150 zoonoses common to human, cat or dog. These are diseases that can affect both your pet and you. You don’t have to be scared yet. Apart from rabies, you are at risk of some parasitoses, bacterial infections or fungal diseases (dermatophytoses) in the Czech Republic.

How do you defend yourself from such common diseases then? If you’re sharing a household with a cat or a dog, it’s usually enough to abide by basic rules of hygiene. People with lowered immunity can be at a greater risk, of course, that is also small children and the elderly or pregnant women.

In such cases, it’s recommended to deworm the animals more often, or to have their poo tested regularly for parasites. People, who are more at risk, especially future mothers, should also avoid taking care of animals such as cleaning cat toilets, picking up dog excrements, bathing them and the like. However, a total separation of the animal isn’t necessary, unless it’s showing clinical symptoms of a disease. Remember, that a thorough personal hygiene is always the best prevention.

Probably the most feared zoonosis is toxoplasmosis. People associate it with cats and pregnant women. But do you know, that even dogs or rodents can get infected, or that you can catch it without direct contact with an animal, from a badly cooked meat? However, cat is the only host in which the parasite is able to reproduce and continue infecting. If you’re keeping your cat exclusively at home and you’re not feeding it with raw meat, the danger of infection is really minimal. The highest risk applies to kittens from three to seven months. If your cat goes outside, you should have it tested once in four months.

The prevention of toxoplasmosis infection is again to maintain personal hygiene and hygiene of the animal keeping, which means regular cleaning of cat toilets and their disinfection. In the same manner, however, you should thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables and protect them from insects, cook meat properly and refrain from consumption of a steak Tartar and avoid contact with the mucous membranes when handling raw meat. In the same way, eggs must be cooked properly. You have to be careful about home-produced milk as well. If you’d like to learn more, you can read the article The Mystery called toxoplasmosis.

When it comes to the transfer of dermatophytoses, that is fungal diseases of the skin, hair and claws, again maintaining hygiene applies along with proper care for the animal. Fungi are transferred through spores, so it’s not a bad idea to sweep regularly and wipe the dust or to bath the animal. But even so, in healthy animals and animals with strong immunity, spores usually don’t cause any reaction.

As you see, if you keep your home tidy and don’t neglect your personal hygiene, there’s not much to worry about. Have you ever contracted anything from your pet? Share your experience.