The risks of domestic pets to human health

Scientific and educational prospects - A number of domestic pets, such as dogs, cats, monkeys and some types of reptiles and snakes, breed a number of animals that are in direct contact with the human being and may pose a danger to their health and safety, especially as many children and adults pet the animals and sleep near them.

On the dangers of these animals to humans, the director of the department of veterinary medicine at the Berlin Institute for Virology of the Free University Klaus Ostrider (owners of pets should know that these animals can be dangerous. "Although the diseases of animals, infectious diseases transmitted from vertebrates "Humans are more common among cattle than pets can also be a source of infection."



Some of the health problems that can be caused by domestic pets to humans include certain skin and fungal diseases. Dogs and cats, especially in rural areas, can become infected with livestock and then transmit fungus to people who contact these animals directly and closely.



Fleas transmitted by domestic animals to humans do not pose a threat to human health but are a major inconvenience. "Cat fleas are the most common," said Ingo Nolty, a professor at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover. "Dogs can transmit a fine infection like scabies, which leads to itching and redness that lasts for a few days and disappears spontaneously.

Cats can also transmit fever, a bacterial disease. "Blisters are caused by the disease in certain parts of the skin and in rare cases pimples are spread throughout the body, and this is a problem that many pet owners do not immediately recognize as the cause of the disease," Ostrieder said.

Sometimes animals are infected with viruses such as cowpox, as happened in 2008 in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria. "Most of the infected people had infected rodents such as colored mice or fed them to their snakes," Ostrieder said.

"In humans, smallpox occurs after contact with an animal, usually confined to the lips or eyes, but can spread throughout the body in people with weakened immune systems and sometimes lead to death."

Snakes and other reptiles are not all harmless either. Animals raised at home are not a problem, says Rudolf Hoffmann, a veterinarian specializing in fish and reptiles who works at the reptile collection plant in Munich. "Recently imported animals from the tropics, in particular, can be infected," he said. Snakes can carry, for example, single-cell parasites and confirm their enemies when animals vomit.

"Cleaning a barn can lead to contamination of faeces with serious intestinal infectious disease," Hofmann said. Salmonella can also be transmitted this way.




In general, domestic pets can transmit many diseases to humans, such as asthma and allergies caused by their fur and their offspring. Human viruses, bacteria and parasites can also be transmitted to humans. They must be kept in strict personal hygiene when dealing with these animals and subjected to regular medical examinations. Sleeping