Zoonoses like roundworms can infect humans

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"DOCTOR,' I THINK MY DOG has a cold. Can I catch it?" In veterinary practices, questions like this about zoonoses are common. Although the answer to this one is "no", there are other diseases that family pets can give their owners. 

Zoonoses are nothing to mess around with. Here are some guidelines you can follow to protect yourself and your family:

• To guard against zoonoses, purchase all pets from reputable sources only. Insist on a pre-purchase veterinary exam to screen for zoonoses.
• Adults and children should wash their hands after handling family pets, especially prior to meals. This is a major step in preventing zoonoses transmission.
• To prevent exposure to zoonoses, avoid interactions with stray or wild animals (alive or dead) that may happen into your backyard. Zoonoses love wildlife!
• Dispose of pet waste promptly. Parasitic zoonoses can take three days to become infective, so it stands to reason that waste left unattended in a yard can be a major source of exposure to zoonoses. 
• Zoonoses can reside in pet foods; therefore, wash hands after handling.
• Keep decks and driveways clean of wildlife feces. Raccoon roundworms are dangerous zoonoses.
• Keep sandboxes covered when not in use, and keep kids' play areas free of animal excrement. Sandboxes are often hotbeds for parasitic zoonoses.
• Vaccinate your dog and cat for rabies. Of all zoonoses, this is the most deadly!
• If recommended by your veterinarian, vaccinate your dog for the zoonoses leptospirosis and Lyme disease.
• Reptiles and amphibians can be sources for zoonoses like the salmonellosis, so wear disposable gloves when handling them.
• Wear gloves when gardening to avoid soil-borne zoonoses.
• Control fleas and ticks on your pet. Zoonoses carried by these pesky creatures can include plague, Lyme disease, and Ehrlichia.
• If bitten by a dog or cat, seek medical attention immediately. Not only is rabies a zoonoses worry if the vaccination status of the biting animal is unknown, bacterial infections are too. Cat scratches can also transmit zoonoses, including cat scratch fever, one of several bacterial zoonoses.
• Toxoplasmosis from cats is common among parasitic zoonoses and can infect unborn children. Pregnant women should avoid gardening and cleaning litter boxes.
• Practice good pest control (i.e mice, rats) around your home to help prevent zoonoses.
• Puppies and kittens should be routinely dewormed starting at three weeks of age and every three to four weeks thereafter to prevent parasitic zoonoses.
• Immunocompromised people are highly suceptible to zoonoses infections, so make certain all pets they're exposed to are free of zoonoses themselves.
• Methicillin-resistant staph (MRSA) is one of many emerging zoonoses that can be transmitted by the family pet. Again, wash hands after handling and have skin infections on pets treated promptly to prevent bacterial zoonoses.
• Keep your dog on heartworm preventive medication year-round. This medication will also prevent parasitic zoonoses like roundworms.
• Do not allow dogs or cats to roam outdoors and hunt rodents, birds, and other wild game. If they do, they can pick up zoonoses like tapeworms that could pose a major health threat to your family.
• Parrots and other psittacines should be tested for zoonoses like psittacosis, a disease that causes severe respiratory and flu-like illness in humans, before introducing them into a household.
• Don't feed your pet raw meat, an all-to-common source of zoonoses.

While this zoonoses prevention list is long, it's not all inclusive. The take-away message: Zoonoses prevention should be a priority for all pet owners. By combining these suggestions with a little common sense, you'll minimize the health risks associated with zoonoses and make your home a safer place both for you and your pets.