Prevent Transmission of Intestinal Parasites from Pets to People
Services Contacts Staff Info Pet Links Pet News What's New? Take a Tour Senior Pages		Intestinal parasites of dogs and cats can cause disease in people that accidentally ingest eggs or larvae or have direct skin contact with a parasite. Metzger Animal Hospital has created this handout, based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to inform our clients of the dangers of parasite transmission so that they may better protect their families. TYPES OF PARASITES Roundworm Puppies are often infected with roundworms from their mothers before birth or via milk. Kittens are infected after they are born. Pets may contaminate their environment, your home, as early as the first 2-3 weeks of life with huge numbers of infective eggs and larvae. Toxocariasis is an infection caused by roundworms in people. In humans, this parasite rarely matures in the intestinal system as it does in animals. Roundworms will instead migrate through the host’s tissues. More than 700 people a year experience permanent partial loss of vision because of roundworm migration to the eye. Though rare, an infection can also cause swelling of the body’s organs or central nervous system. Symptoms include fever, coughing, asthma or pneumonia. Children can get roundworms by playing in or eating infected dirt after an infected pet has shed eggs or larvae in the yard. Hookworm Hookworm is an intestinal parasite that can cause mild diarrhea or cramps in humans, but serious health problems can occur in children and newborns. Direct contact with contaminated soil, through walking barefoot, or accidentally swallowing contaminated soil, can cause infection. Soil is usually contaminated by infected animals. Itching and a rash are usually the first signs of hookworm infection. While light infections may cause no symptoms, heavy infections can lead to abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and weight loss. PREVENTION The CDC recommends that pet owners avoid environmental contamination by emphasizing good hygiene and sanitation and providing well-timed preventive treatments, especially for puppies and kittens. Deworming is most effective at preventing human illness when it is aimed at puppies, kittens, and their mothers because they harbor the most worms and thus produce the most infective-stage larvae. For a deworming schedule, the CDC recommends that puppies and kittens be treated soon after birth. The puppy recommendation also calls for follow-up deworming so that treatment for worms is given at 2,4,6, and 8 weeks of age. Since prenatal infection does not occur in kittens, their treatment can be started at 6 weeks of age with follow-up treatments at 8 and 10 weeks. Because young animals acquire new infections continuously and many worms are not yet fully mature, fecal exams are often falsely negative in pups and kittens. For this reason deworming is recommended regardless of fecal exam results. However, fecal exams can also detect other parasites, such as coccidia, that are not eliminated by the same medications used to treat roundworm and hookworm. Adult animals should be dewormed yearly in conjunction with an annual fecal exam.