What can you get infected from a cat? What diseases do cats transmit?

• WHAT CAN YOU GET FROM A CAT? WHAT DISEASES CAN BE TRANSFERRED BY CATS?

What can you get infected from a cat? Commonly known diseases such as mycosis or scabies, toxoplasmosis that are dangerous for pregnant women, and also very difficult to treat toxocarosis or chlamydiosis, which causes symptoms of gonorrhea in humans. These are anthropozoonooses (also known as zoonoses), i.e. zoonoses. These include both infectious and parasitic animal diseases, which can also be infected by humans. Check what other diseases cats can transmit and how to avoid contamination.

Did you know thatcat scratch diseasecat scratch disease, toxocarosis ,scabies and even mycosis. They are the so-calledzoonoses(otherwisezoonoses ) - infectious or parasitic diseases of animals (or only spread by animals). In humans, infection usually occurs through direct contact with sick animals or its faeces. Most of them are known as "dirty hands disease", which means that you only need to follow basic hygiene measures to avoid contamination. Find outwhat diseases do cats transmitand what to do to prevent infection, both in humans and cats.

WHAT CAN YOU GET FROM A CAT? WHAT DISEASES CAN BE TRANSFERRED BY CATS?

Toxocarosis

Toxocarosis ( toxocarosis ) is a parasitic disease that in cats is caused by toxocars - the larvae of the cat ascaris ( Toxocara leonina ). Cats are carriers of roundworms, which produce eggs with larvae in their intestines. The cat excretes them from the body along with the faeces.

The infection occurs most often through contact with contaminated soil, sand, food, animals and their faeces. The larvae are small and sticky, so they easily stick to the cat's fur and paws. Then the cat leaves them on the floor, table, and also on the hands of a person. When swallowed, the larvae mature in the human body, and then locate in various internal organs - lungs, liver, brain, and even the eye - where they can live for up to several years.

In humans, wandering visceral larvae syndrome is characterized by changes in behavior, headache, seizures, abdominal pain, rash, fever, enlargement of the spleen and hepatomegaly, sometimes with impaired vision or epilepsy. Treatment is difficult and long (lasting several months).

How to prevent infection? Regular deworming of cats is important, frequent washing of hands, especially before eating, after contact with animals or after playing, especially after visiting the sandbox or playgrounds.

Bubble

Echinococcosis is a parasitic disease caused by the echinococcosis tapeworm. The infection occurs through the ingestion of echinococcosis eggs. The source of this infection is cat droppings.

Eggs, after entering the human body, transform into larvae that can grow in it for many years and reach the size of a head of cabbage. Mature larvae (blisters) live in many organs, incl. in the liver, surrounding itself in a thick shell with fluid. They pose a serious risk of rupture and internal hemorrhage. Treatment includes surgery, usually removal of the organ that has been occupied by the parasite (e.g. liver resection), and therapy with antiparasitic drugs.

To avoid contamination, cats should be wormed and their hands washed frequently. Eggs can also be found on forest fruits or mushrooms, as foxes are also an intermediate host of the parasite. Therefore, after returning from mushroom picking or forest hike, you should thoroughly wash the mushrooms and fruit collected in the forest.

Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis ( toxoplasmosis ) is a disease caused by protozoaToxoplasma gonidii.Spore forms - oocysts excreted in cat's faeces - can survive for many months in unfavorable conditions.

However, despite the large number of infected cats, oocysts are rarely found in their faeces - this is observed in only 0.8-1% of the population. It should be remembered that the oocyst is non-invasive when excreted in the faeces, it becomes dangerous to humans only after some time (1-5 days). This means that fresh feces from a sick cat are not dangerous. It is enough to change the litter daily and disinfect the litter box to avoid infection with toxoplasmosis. Moreover, cats only sow oocysts the first time they are infected with toxoplasmosis - so a seropositive cat (one that has previously had contact with a protozoan and developed antibodies) is actually a safe companion to a pregnant woman. If the cat is seronegative (laboratory tests indicate that it was not infected), it is the only cat in the house, it does not go outside, and it is not possible to hunt sick birds or rodents, and you do not feed it raw meat - there is no possibility that you will get infected from him with toxoplasmosis.

In a he althy person (also in children) toxoplasmosis is asymptomatic. Sometimes you get flu-like symptoms or enlarged lymph nodes. In people with weakened immunity (e.g. AIDS patients) the disease can be very severeacute infection.

Important

Toxoplasmosis dangerous for pregnant women

A woman who is pregnant or planning a baby should avoid contact with cats. In a pregnant woman who has not had a disease before and therefore has not developed antibodies, infection can severely damage the fetus and develop congenital abnormalities (e.g. deafness, mental retardation, blindness) and even miscarriage after infection. Women planning a child, not only those with cats, should be tested for the presence of antibodies to toxoplasmosis. The lack of antibodies means that the pregnant woman should be under special medical supervision.

CHECK>>What should a pregnant woman or a woman planning a baby know about toxoplasmosis?

Świerzb

Scabies is caused by the penetrating scabies ,parasite belonging to the mite family. Scabies parasites in the skin of humans and animals. It feeds on skin cells and reproduces on its surface, therefore the infected cat begins to go bald and the exposed skin is dry.

Cat scabies can potentially infect humans, but the risk is low, which of course does not exempt owners from taking precautions and treating domestic cats.

Scabies can spread from cats to humans. However, this happens in rare situations, such as when immunity is compromised (children or the elderly, or people suffering from leukemia, AIDS, or organ transplants, for example). Then, ear mite can penetrate the human epidermis, but it does not cause any dangerous effects - slight redness and itching disappears spontaneously within a few days.

To avoid contamination, watch your cat's fur (for signs of baldness), wash your hands frequently and wash your clothes / underwear / bedding at high temperatures.

Shearing mycosis

Shearing mycosis has two forms:

• superficial- characterized by the presence of delimited, oval lesions on the scalp of both cats and humans. Typical hair is broken off and damaged;
• deep- there are inflammatory tumors with pus flowing out. Hair usually falls out spontaneously. General symptoms may also appear - fever or lymphocytosis.

Treatment is long-term (oral medications, vaccines, antiseptic baths). In order to prevent infection, you should often clean the apartment, work bedding and cat's lairs, blankets at high temperature, and above all, wash your hands frequently (always after playing with the cat).

Cat scratch disease

Diseasecat's scratch is caused by the bacteriaRochalimaea henseale , which are transmitted by fleas. Infection occurs through a bite or scratch by a cat. Children often suffer from cat scratch disease. Animals do not show any signs of infection with this bacterium.

In humans, the disease is initially asymptomatic or only with symptoms at the wound site (local redness, inflammatory papule). In a few patients, after a few weeks, fever, enlargement of the lymph nodes may appear, which may break through (then the purulent contents are poured out). Other symptoms include: headache, backache, abdominal pain, fatigue.

To avoid contamination, prevent the cat becoming clogged and avoid situations where the cat can bite or scratch. If a scratch does occur, clean the damaged area of ​​the skin with hydrogen peroxide as soon as possible.

Chlamydioza

Chlamydiosis, and specifically Chlamydophila psittaci, the feline type, is a bacterial disease that manifests itself in cats as Cat's nose: Your pet sneezes frequently and mucus is leaking from its eyes. the disease most often affects young cats, under the age of one, due to their immature immune system.

The primary route of infection is contact with the secretion from the conjunctival sac of a sick cat. In humans, the symptoms of the disease do not usually appear. Symptoms similar to those of gonorrhea are very rare. In men, you may notice abnormal discharge from the urethra.

In order to prevent the disease, cats are vaccinated annually.

Rabies

Rabies is a deadly disease that is caused by theRabies virus(RABV) virus. A person can become infected with it as a result of being bitten by a sick animal. The incubation period is 2 months, during which immunity to the virus is possible by administering an antitoxin and a series of vaccines.