With the improvement of people's living standards and emotional needs, especially young people who work alone in big cities, and the elderly whose children are not around, pets have increasingly become a kind of companionship for people. However, with the increase in the number of pets in the family, the "zero distance" contact between humans and animals is also increasing, which increases the risk of the spread of natural iatrogenic diseases or zoonotic diseases.
What are zoonotic and naturally occurring diseases?
Zoonotic diseases refer to diseases that naturally spread between vertebrates and humans, and the vectors of transmission can be viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc. It is also widely transmitted, either through close and direct contact between humans and pets, or through air, water, and pet excrement.
What are the dangers of zoonotic diseases caused by pets?
The most common pets people keep include dogs and cats, and the zoonotic diseases caused by these two animals are mainly hidden infections - that is, although pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria have been transmitted to infected people, but this person has no external manifestations, he will not go to any treatment, and he can continue to transmit this bacteria to others, which will lead to an increase in the number of sick people.
Common parasites cause zoonotic diseases
Parasites, as the name suggests, need to parasitize on other organisms to survive and cause disease. Hosts where larval parasitisms are called intermediate hosts, and hosts that adults parasitize are called terminal hosts. Toxoplasma gondii is a common parasite that causes zoonotic diseases. Human cells and cats are the intermediate hosts, and the main harm of the parasite is the intermediate host. For pets, it can lead to the acute illness or death of pets, and for humans, especially pregnant women, it is easy to lead to serious consequences such as miscarriage and fetal death. If you are an asymptomatic latent infected person, it can also cause reproductive dysfunction.
Speaking of which, some people may ask, is it possible to be assured of vaccination? The answer is no, unfortunately, there is no standard toxoplasmosis cat vaccine in our country at present (don't pay the IQ tax). Toxoplasma gondii infection, it is important to prevent.
Raw meat is an important source of toxoplasm parasitism, so when feeding meat to pets, cook it; and it also reminds us that outdoor non-domestic cats must keep their distance from them, especially pregnant women. If the cat is infected, then there will be toxoplasma gondii in its feces, so you must clean the cat feces in time, and remember to wash your hands carefully after cleaning.
Common viruses cause zoonotic diseases
This disease is not unfamiliar to everyone, rabies, cats and dogs people must have their own pet injuries after spending a lot of money on vaccinations or immunoglobulin experience. As we all know, the mortality rate from rabies is 100%, and there is currently no treatment, so prevention is the only way. The virus is mainly transmitted through bites, but it can also be infected by the saliva of animals carrying the virus, through various wounds on human skin and the mucous membranes of scratches and licks.
For domestic pets, especially cats, which have never been exposed to other animals outdoors, it is generally not necessary to prevent rabies. It is well known that dogs have a large time and range of outdoor activities and may also be exposed to other dogs that carry the rabies virus, so it is important to vaccinate pets.
Precautions after licking, scratching, and biting by animals that cannot be determined to have rabies are called post-exposure prophylaxis. According to the recommendations of the technical guidelines for the prevention and control of rabies in China, different principles are adopted for this situation.
Common bacteria cause zoonotic diseases
Brucellosis canine, also known as wave fever, is a zoonotic disease caused by Brucella bacteria that can infect both dogs and other people. Most are transmitted through contact, and most dogs are infected with a latent infection. In environments where cattle, sheep, dogs, and people live together or are in contact, they are more likely to infect each other.
Scientific breeding is key
Even if pets can cause the above zoonotic diseases to humans, we cannot completely deny the raising of pets because of choking. More should be the pet owners to scientifically manage pets, such as timely vaccination, deworming, timely cleaning of excrement, regular disinfection of pet utensils, fixed point placement, etc.
In addition, we must prevent existing risks, and we should not increase the source of disease - do not discard pets to make them "stray cats" and "stray dogs"- casually picking up food can lead to the occurrence of these infections.
Finally, pets are our emotional sustenance, but also in moderation. In some short videos of "sunbathing", there is no shortage of feeding behaviors such as sharing tableware with pets, sharing beds, hugging and kissing, etc., which are still not recommended from the perspective of disease prevention.