007. Human-Cat Disease Transmission (Zoonoses)
Description
This article is from the Basic Health Care FAQ, posted to rec.pets.cats newsgroup. Maintained by Cindy Tittle Moore with numerous contributions by others.
007. Human-Cat Disease Transmission (Zoonoses)
Some diseases can be transmitted from cats to people (zoonoses). Most cannot. For example, you absolutely cannot contract AIDS from a cat with FIV or FeLV, although the diseases are related (all are retroviruses). This misconception led to the tragic deaths of hundreds of cats as panicked owners got rid of them.
Anyone with an impaired immune system is at risk of exposure to germs and other things from cats that healthy people would not contract; this is regardless of the health of the cat.
You are more likely to contract diseases from other people than your pets. Transmission of disease generally requires close contact between susceptible people and animals or their oral, nasal, ocular or digestive excretions. Use common sense and practice good hygiene to reduce your risks.
From the Cornell Book of Cats:
* Viral diseases transmitted by cats are rabies and cowpox, usually through biting or direct contact.
* Ringworm is a fungus infection affecting the hair, skin, and nails. Humans contract it either by direct contact with the cat or by the spores shed from an infected animal.
* Cat bites can cause a variety of diseases and infections, including pasteurella and tetanus.
* Campylobacter enteritis, a disease of the small intestine, can be caused by contact with contaminated cat feces.
* Cat scratch fever is an infection caused by a bacterial agent transmitted to the human via a cat scratch.
* Conjunctivitis in humans can be caused by contact with the nasal and ocular discharges of cats infected with feline chlamydiosis.
* Humans can become infected by Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever when a cat brings home ticks. If the cat becomes infected with plague, it can also infect humans directly.
* Salmonella organisms, which are shed in discharges from the mouth, eyes, and in the feces, can cause intestinal disease in humans.
* Toxoplasmosis is transmitted by contact with the feces of an infected cat. Although it is well-known that cats can transmit toxoplasmosis, many do not know that humans are more commonly infected by eating incompletely cooked meat.
* Other parasites which can be acquired by humans are hookworms, roundworms, and tapeworms: usually by direct or indirect contact with contaminated feces, or ingestion of contaminated fleas.
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