Pets and Infectious Diseases
Correct care of your pet may prevent them from getting ill and infecting the household.
To prevent the spread of disease from your pet, take these steps:
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Keep your pet's vaccines up to date.
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Have your pet see a veterinarian regularly for health checkups.
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Keep your pet's bedding and living area clean.
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Feed your pet a balanced diet. Give them on-going access to clean, fresh water. Don't
let your pet eat raw foods or drink out of the toilet.
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Clean cat litter boxes every day. Pregnant people should not touch cat litter. It
may contain harmful germs. These can lead to infectious diseases that cause birth
defects, such as toxoplasmosis.
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Wash your hands thoroughly after touching animals or cleaning up animal waste. Use
soap and clean, running water.
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Use a device or bag to remove your dog's feces from your yard or public areas. Dispose
of the feces in an appropriate container.
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Washing hands is very important after touching reptiles. These animals may harbor
a bacteria called salmonella, which can cause the illness salmonellosis. This causes
severe diarrhea, fever, and stomach pain or cramps. Most people who get salmonella
will have symptoms that last from 4 to 7 days and will get better without treatment.
. But in more serious cases, it may need antibiotics and possibly a hospital stay.
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Keep children away from areas with dog or cat feces. This will help prevent the spread
of roundworms and hookworms.
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Cover sandboxes so cats don't use them as litter boxes.
Wild animals and infectious diseases
Wild animals and insects can be carriers for some very serious diseases. These include
rabies, tetanus, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, hantavirus, and the plague.
Don't let your child feed or try to play with any wild animals, such as squirrels,
chipmunks, or raccoons. Never leave a young child alone around any animal—wild or
domestic. Animal bites and scratches, even when they are minor, may get infected.
They may spread bacteria to other parts of the body. It does not matter if the bite
is from a family pet or a wild animal. Any bites and scratches may carry disease.
Cat scratches, for instance, even from a kitten, may carry cat scratch disease. This
is a bacterial infection. Bites and scratches that break the skin are even more likely
to become infected.
Immediate care for animal bites
Here is what to do:
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Wash the wound with soap and clean, running water under pressure from a faucet. Don't
scrub. This can bruise the tissue.
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If the bite or scratch is bleeding, put pressure on it with a clean bandage or towel
to stop the bleeding.
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Dry the wound and cover it with a sterile dressing. Don't use tape or butterfly bandages
to bring the edges of the wound together. They can trap harmful bacteria in the wound.
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Call your healthcare provider for guidance in reporting the attack. They can also
decide if more treatment is needed. This may include antibiotics, a tetanus booster,
or rabies vaccine.
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If possible, find the animal that caused the wound. Some animals need to be captured,
confined, and observed for rabies. Don't try to capture the animal yourself. Instead
contact the nearest animal warden or animal control office in your area.
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The injured person may need a series of rabies shots if any of these occur:
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The animal can't be found
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The animal was a high-risk species
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The animal attack was unprovoked
What is rabies?
Rabies is a very serious viral infection of warm-blooded animals. It's caused by a
virus in the Rhabdoviridae family. The virus infects the central nervous system. Once
symptoms start, it's almost 100% fatal in animals.
In North America, rabies happens mainly in skunks, raccoons, foxes, and bats. In some
parts, these wild animals infect domestic cats, dogs, and livestock. In the U.S.,
cats are more likely than dogs to be rabid. Generally, rabies is rare in small rodents,
such as beavers, chipmunks, squirrels, rats, mice, or hamsters. Rabies is also rare
in rabbits. In the mid-Atlantic states, where rabies is increasing in raccoons, woodchucks
(groundhogs) can be rabid.
How does rabies happen?
The rabies virus enters the body via the animal's saliva. This can happen through
a bite, cut or scratch. Or through mucous membranes, such as the lining of the mouth
and eyes. It then travels to the central nervous system. Once the infection is in
the brain, the virus travels down the nerves from the brain and multiplies in different
organs.
The salivary glands and organs are most important in the spread of rabies from 1 animal
to another. When an infected animal bites another animal, the rabies virus is spread
through the infected animal's saliva. Scratches by claws of rabid animals are also
dangerous. That's because these animals lick their claws.
What are the symptoms of rabies?
The incubation period in humans from the time of exposure to when illness starts can
range from weeks to months. The average incubation period is about 2 months. These
are the most common symptoms of rabies:
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Pain, tingling, or numbness around the wound site
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Low-grade fever
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Headache
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Appetite loss
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Intense thirst, but drinking will cause painful throat spasms
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Restlessness
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Hyperactivity
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Disorientation, anxiety, hallucinations
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Seizures
Some of these symptoms may be caused by other health problems. Always contact your healthcare
provider for a diagnosis. Get care right away if you think you may have been exposed
to rabies.
Preventing rabies
Teach young children to never walk toward or try to touch an unknown animal. Have
your cats and dogs vaccinated against rabies. If you have other types of pets, ask
your veterinarian if they need a rabies vaccine. Keep your animals in a fenced yard
or on a leash. Check that the animal wears its rabies vaccine tag. This should have
the vaccine history, name, and your contact information. Call animal control to report
any stray animals in your neighborhood. They may be ill or not vaccinated.
Bats are one of the most often reported rabid animals in the U.S. They also are the
leading cause of rabies deaths in the U.S. If you or a family member have been exposed
to a bat, get medical care right away. Do this even if there are no signs of a bite.
You should be evaluated for the rabies vaccine. If you have a bat in your home, contact
local resources to safely remove the bat.