What?! Does this mean I can't snuggle with my dog in bed anymore? Most of the pet owners I know sleep in the same bed with their pets!
A study to be published in next month's issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Emerging Infectious Diseases says that sleeping with your pets increases the chances of contracting anything from parasites to the plague.
The experts in zoonoses (diseases or infections transmitted from animals to humans) reported:
"The risk for transmission of zoonotic agents by close contact between pets and their owners through bed sharing, kissing or licking is real and has even been documented for life-threatening infections such as plague [and] internal parasites."
"We wanted to raise the attention of people, as sleeping with a pet is becoming quite common, and there are risks associated with it, even if it is not very frequent, but when it occurs, especially in children or immunocompromised people, it can be very severe."The study also shows that disease from cats is far more prevalent, and often more serious.
Some examples:
- Cat scratch disease - is known to infect 20,000 people each year and is caused by a simple scratch or bite from a cat who has infected fleas or flea feces (gross) on them. The pathogen can cause swelling of the lymph nodes and sometime lethal damage to the liver, kidney and spleen of humans.
- A 9-year-old boy from Arizona got the plague because he slept with his flea-infested cat.
- A 48-year-old man and his wife repeatedly contracted MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which their physicians eventually attributed to their dog. The animal "routinely slept in their bed and frequently licked their face," the California experts reported.
Make sure to take your pets in for regular checkups & don't forget about flea preventative treatments all year long!
Well... I think I'm still going to snuggle with my dog tonight.
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