PETS & PARASITES – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

There are numerous parasites that can be transmitted from pets to humans (see below).
 
Ways to Reduce Being Infected with Parasites from Your Pets:

1. Treat pets for parasites on a regular basis.  Please speak with a holistic veterinarian (https://www.ahvma.org/what-is-holistic-veterinary-medicine/) who can determine the best combination of conventional and alternative (or complementary) treatment options or consult with other specialists that are knowledgeable about treating animals with herbs, foods, and/or natural supplements.
2. Do not permit pets to sleep on your beds or on furniture.  
3. Do not allow your pets to use the same dishes that you or your family will later use for eating, drinking, storing foods, or cooking (pets need their own dedicated food and water bowls that are thoroughly washed on a regular basis).
4. Wash hands thoroughly after playing with your pet that involves toys, bones, or sticks that the animal places in his or her mouth.
   
5. If you have a backyard sandbox, keep it covered, so animals will not defecate in it. Sand provides an ideal environment for the development and survival of hookworm larvae from cats.  Those that play in the sandbox could easily become infected.
   
6. Keep your yard cleaned up of all animal feces, and try to keep stray dogs and cats out, as well as wild animals … good luck with that!
7. Do not let animals lick your face or arms.

• Pets that have licked their anus can potentially pass the parasite eggs to humans during facial licking.
• Parasites (including Giardia and Cryptosporidium) can be transmitted from an animal’s saliva immediately with no incubation period.
• Dogs that eat cat or other animal feces are especially a concern, as numerous parasites are infective 1-21 days after an animal poops.
• Do not allow your pet to lick your small children or their toys, as children put toys and their hands in their mouths.
• After an animal licks you, wash your hands and/or that body part thoroughly.

NOTE: Young animals, such as puppies and kittens, are more likely to be infected with roundworms and hookworms. Animals (Zoonotic) https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/animals.html

The CDC advises to “[p]ractice the four Ps:  Pick up Pet Poop Promptly, and dispose of properly. Be sure to wash your hands after handling pet waste.”
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From CATS: Toxoplasma gondii

• A protozoan parasite.
• Linked to Crohn’s disease. 
• Infection is common.
• Found throughout the world.
• According to the WHO, 30-50% of the world population is infected.
• Toxoplasmosis can also cause an eye disease known as ocular toxoplasmosis and is one of the most frequent causes of uveitis (inflammation of the uvea and can lead to permanent eye damage).

Humans can get infected in numerous ways:

• From direct contact with cats
• Orally after contact with infected cat feces, such as after cleaning the litter box and not thoroughly washing hands.
• Consuming water that has been contaminate with oocysts. 
• Through fruits and vegetables contaminated by oocysts in the environment.
• Via the consumption of raw or undercooked infected meat. 

Conventional treatment includes a combination of drugs such as pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, plus folinic acid.  Side effects, costs, length of treatment, and possible drug interactions of these drugs are beyond the scope of this blog.  Please see your health care provider for more information on these items.  According to the CDC, these “parasites can remain within tissue cells in a less active phase; their location makes it difficult for the medication to completely eliminate them.”
 
Toxoplasmosis is considered to be a leading cause of death attributed to foodborne illness in the United States. More than 30 million men, women, and children in the U.S. carry the Toxoplasma parasite, but it is claimed that very few have symptoms because the immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness.
 
 Solutions:

• Please do not wear shoes inside the house, as you may step in feces and bring into home. 
• Clean your cat’s litter box often and thoroughly wash hands after contact … Oocysts take 1-5 days to become infective after excretion from cats. 
• Do not permit cats on tables and counters, where food is stored, prepared, or consumed.
• Do not have cats living in your house, but I understand why that is not an option for most.  Cats are very nice pets and are very cute. 
• Keep your immune system strong, as the infection remains dormant in most healthy individuals. 

 
Daraprim (pyrimethamine) is the standard drug used for the treatment of the possibly life-threatening parasitic infection toxoplasmosis when used conjointly with a sulfonamide.  It was introduced in 1953.  This was the drug that got “Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli (the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals) onto the world stage when in August of 2015, his new company acquired the drug only to increase the price $13.50 a tablet to $750.00 per pill.

References:

• Drug Goes from $13.50 a Tablet to $750.00, Overnight            https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/business/a-huge-overnight-increase-in-a-drugs-price-raises-protests.html
• Darapim: Drugs.Com                                                                              https://www.drugs.com/pro/daraprim.html
• Toxoplasma Gondii: WHO (World Health Organization) Bulletin. 2013; 91:501–508 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.12.111732
• The global burden of congenital toxoplasmosis: a systematic review                  Flegr J, Prandota J, Sovičková M, Israili ZH (2014) Toxoplasmosis – A Global Threat. Correlation of Latent Toxoplasmosis with Specific Disease Burden in a Set of 88 Countries. PLoS ONE 9(3): e90203. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090203
• Egan, C. E., Cohen, S. B., & Denkers, E. Y. (2012). Insights into inflammatory bowel disease using Toxoplasma gondii as an infectious trigger. Immunology and Cell Biology, 90(7), 668–675. http://doi.org/10.1038/icb.2011.93
• Dalimi, A., & Abdoli, A. (2012). Latent Toxoplasmosis and Human. Iranian Journal of Parasitology, 7(1), 1–17.
• Mayo Clinic – uveitis:                                                                         http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/uveitis/basics/definition/con-20026602

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 From CATS & DOGS: Dipylidium caninum

• A tapeworm that is acquired if one swallows an infected flea. 
• Most common tapeworm of dogs and cats in the United States.
• Infection is common.
• Found throughout the world.

Praziquantel is the pharmaceutical treatment given for both animals and humans.  The CDC states that it is simple and very effective with a prescription drug called Praziquantel is given, either orally or by injection (pets only).  There are herbal and natural treatments that may be available through a holistic veterinarian.

Treat pets and your home for fleas. According to the CDC, “for a person to become infected with Dipylidium, he or she must accidentally swallow an infected flea.”
 
References:

• CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] – Parasites  – Dipylidium Infection (also known as Dog and Cat Flea Tapeworm)                       https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/dipylidium/faqs.html