We love sleeping with our pets, but some veterinary scientists don’t agree. They say that sleeping with and “kissing” your animals on their little pet lips puts you at risk for some serious medical problems, even when those pusses and pooches are seemingly healthy. According to “Zoonoses in the Bedroom,” a study published in the February issue of the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases: “The risk of contracting something is rare, but if you’re that person who gets a disease from a pet, rare doesn’t matter that much,” says the paper’s co-author Bruno Chomel, a professor at the University of California-Davis school of veterinary medicine and an expert in zoonoses, the transmission of disease from animal to human. “I know this will make me unpopular, but pets really don’t belong in your bed.”
FOLLOW US!
This document provides information on diseases that can be passed from rabbits and related lagomorphs to people. Often these diseases do not make the animal appear sick but can cause serious illness in humans. Persons with specific medical conditions such as a chronic illness, immunodeficiency and pregnancy may be at higher risk of developing disease or complications from a zoonotic disease and should consult with their physician before working with animals.
The majority of rabbits housed at WSU are bred and raised under strict hygienic conditions and are free of pathogens that could be transferred to people. These rabbits are called “specific pathogen-free” or “SPF” rabbits. Rabbits that are housed outdoors, captured from wild populations or that are purchased from a pet store may carry zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases specifically associated with rabbits include pasteurellosis, ringworm, mycobacteriosis, cryptosporidiosis and external parasites. To read more on this story, click here:Zoonoses Associated with Rabbits
FOLLOW US!
