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Selected Zoonotic Agents of Gastroenteritis That
Can Be Acquired From Dogs and Cats |
Gastroenteritis is an extremely common problem in both dogs
and cats, particularly among puppies and kittens, and the list
of possible infectious etiologies for such gastroenteritis is
extremely long. Although many of these organisms are most commonly
acquired by people as water- and foodborne infections, dogs and
cats (and other domestic animals) may pose a zoonotic risk. For
example, a recent study of cats in Colorado (Hill et al., 2000)
demonstrated that 13.1% of cats were shedding zoonotic agents
of gastroenteritis in their feces, including 5.4% shedding Cryptosporidium
parvum, 2.4% shedding Giardia intestinalis and 2.0%
shedding either Salmonella typhimurium or Campylobacter
jejuni. Additionally, feeding raw meats to dogs poses risks
for their infection with many agents of gastroenteritis, and subsequent
transmission of these agents to people. It is particularly important
that animals with gastroenteritis that belong to immunocompromised
people receive a complete work-up to identify potentially zoonotic
agents.
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Zoonotic gastroenteritis topics |
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(To view any of these topics, simply click
on the appropriate subject.) |
