Infections That Pets Carry
Caring for animals and pets offers a tremendous learning experience for children - it can teach them responsibility, gentleness, and respect for nature and other living beings. Like adults, children can benefit from the companionship, affection, and relationships they share with their pets.
But it's not uncommon for animals and pets to transmit infections to humans, especially children. So if you're thinking about buying a pet, or you already have one, it's important for you to know how to protect your child from infections carried by pets and other animals.
How Do Pets Spread Infections?
Like people, all animals carry HIV, has eczema or atopic dermatitis should probably avoid aquariums.
Common Infections That Pets Carry
Dogs and Cats
Dogs and cats are popular pets among families with children but they may carry infections such as:
- Cat scratch disease: Can infect a person who is bitten or scratched by a feline with Bartonella henselae bacteria. Symptoms include swollen and tender lymph nodes, fever, headaches, and fatigue, which usually resolve without treatment. However, a doctor may prescribe antibiotics if the infection is severe. Cat scratch disease rarely causes any long-term complications.
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF): Carried by infected ticks that attach themselves to animal skin, particularly dogs. The ticks are infected by the Rickettsia bacteria, which can cause high fever, chills, muscle aches, and headaches, as well as a rash that may spread across the wrists, ankles, palms, soles, and trunk of the body. RMSF is not contagious and can be treated with antibiotics. RMSF is most common in the south central and the mid-south Atlantic regions of the United States.
- Toxocariasis: An illness caused by the parasitic roundworm Toxocara, which lives in the intestines of dogs and cats. The eggs from the worms are passed in the stools of dogs and cats, often contaminating soil where children play. When a child ingests the contaminated soil, the eggs hatch in the intestine and the larvae spread to other organs, an infection known as visceral larva migrans. Symptoms include fever, cough or wheezing, enlarged liver, rash, or swollen lymph nodes. Symptoms may resolve on their own, or a doctor may prescribe drugs to kill the larvae. When the larvae in the intestine make their way through the bloodstream to the eye, it is known as ocular toxocariasis, or ocular larva migrans, which may lead to a permanent loss of vision.
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- Cryptococcosis: A fungal disease contracted when someone inhales organisms found in bird droppings, especially from pigeons, that can cause pneumonia. People with weakened immune systems from illnesses such as HIV or cancer are at increased risk of contracting this disease and developing serious complications such as meningitis.
- Psittacosis: Also known as parrot fever, this bacterial illness can occur when people have contact with infected bird feces or with the dust that accumulates in birdcages. Symptoms include coughing, high fever, and headache. It is treated with antibiotics.
Reptiles
Reptiles - including lizards, snakes, and turtles - place children at risk for:
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- Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM): People can contract lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus by inhaling particles of urine, feces, or saliva from infected rodents, such as mice and hamsters. LCM can cause flu-like symptoms - fever, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, nausea, and vomiting - and may even lead to meningitis (an inflammation of the membrane that surrounds the brain and spinal cord) and encephalitis (an inflammation of the brain). As with most viruses, there is no specific treatment, but some patients may require hospitalization. Like toxoplasmosis, LCM may be passed from infected mother to fetus.
- Mycobacteria marinum: This infection may occur in people exposed to contaminated water in aquariums or pools. Although mycobacteria marinum infections are generally mild and limited to the skin, they can be more severe in people with HIV or with weakened immune systems.
Precautions You Can Take When Adopting or Buying a Pet
If you're adopting or purchasing a pet, make sure the breeder, shelter, or store is reputable and vaccinates all of its animals. A reputable breeder should belong to a national or local breeding club, such as the American Kennel Club. Contact the Humane Society of the United States or your veterinarian for information about animal shelters in your area.
As soon as you choose a family pet, take it to a local veterinarian for vaccinations and a physical examination. Don't forget to routinely vaccinate your pet on a schedule recommended by your vet - this will keep your pet healthy and reduce the risk that infections will be transmitted to your child.
You'll also want to regularly feed your pet nutritious animal food (ask your vet for suggestions) and provide plenty of fresh water. Avoid feeding your pet raw meat because this can be a source of infection, and do not allow your pet to drink toilet water because infections can be spread through saliva, urine, and feces. Limit your young child's contact with outdoor pets that hunt and kill for food because a pet that ingests infected meat may contract an infection that can be passed to your child.
Safely Caring for Your Pet
Here are some tips to help you and your child safely care for your pets:
- Always wash your hands, especially after touching your pet, handling your pet's food, or cleaning your pet's cage, tank, or litter box. Wear gloves when cleaning up after an animal's waste, and if you have a bird, wear a dust mask over your nose and mouth to prevent inhaling urine or fecal particles. Don't have children clean cages or litter boxes unless there is supervision or until they have demonstrated they can do this safely and responsibly (and again, hands should be washed afterwards).
- Avoid kissing or touching your pet with your mouth because infections can be transmitted by saliva. Also, avoid sharing food with your pet.
- Keep your pet's living area clean and free of waste. If your pet eliminates waste outdoors, pick up waste regularly and don't allow your child to play in that area.
- Don't allow pets in areas where food is prepared or handled, and don't bathe your pet or clean aquariums in the kitchen sink or bathtub. Wash your pet outdoors or talk to your veterinarian about professional pet grooming.
- Avoid strange animals or those that appear sick. Never adopt a wild animal as a pet.
Watch your child carefully around pets. Small children are more likely to catch infections from pets because they crawl around on the floor with the animals, kiss them or share food with them, or put their fingers in the pets' mouths and then put their dirty fingers in their own mouths. Also, if your child visits a petting zoo, farm, or a friend's house where there are animals, make sure your child knows the importance of hand washing.
For your pet's comfort and for your family's safety, control flea and tick problems in your pet. Fleas and ticks can carry diseases that may be easily passed to children. Oral and topical medications are available for flea and tick control; avoid using flea collars because children can handle these collars and may become sick from the chemicals they contain. Check your pet regularly for fleas and ticks, as well as bites and scratches that may make them more susceptible to infection. Keep your pet leashed when outdoors and keep it away from animals that look sick or may be unvaccinated.
And, finally, spay or neuter your pet. Spaying and neutering may reduce your pet's contact with other animals that may be infected, especially if your pet goes outdoors.
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