|
Home + Health
Topics with A + Animal Diseases and Your
Health
Animal Diseases and Your Health
Animal diseases that people can catch
are known as zoonoses.
About 75 percent of the novel diseases affecting humans
in the past decade can be traced to animals or animal
products. You can get a disease directly from an animal,
or indirectly, via the environment.
Farm animals can take diseases. If
you touch them or things they have touched, like fencing
or buckets, clean your hands thoroughly. Adults
should make sure children who visit farms or petting
zoos clean up as well.
Pets can also make you ill. Reptiles
pose a finicky risk. Turtles, snakes
and iguanas can convey bacteria to their owners. You
can get rabies from an infected dog or toxoplasmosis
from handling kitty litter of a contaminated cat. The
chance that your dog or cat will make you sick is little.
You can reduce the risk by practicing good personal
hygiene, keeping pet areas dirt free and keeping your
pets' shots up-to-date.
|
