i volunteer at an animal shelter where i help socialize with dogs and keep them company and i was playing with a black lab puppy. later on, one of the workers came buy and told me to leave the cage cause the dog had giardia. he said humans can get it, but i wasn't sure. anyway, i immediately went and washed my hands up to the elbows, and then sanitized them with the germ killing thing.
then i changed my clothes and took a shower when i got home. i left the dirty clothes outside, and didn't bring them in the youse.
Answers:
Yes, Giardia can be spread to humans. All i've ever heard of it causing was diarrhea. I wouldn't worry too much though, I've come in contact with dogs with Giardia a lot and I've never had it. If you do develop diarrhea and think you have Giardia, contact your doctor.
Giardia
Giardia is a protozoan parasite that lives in the intestine of affected animals. It is unclear whether there are several species of this parasite or whether there is one species that affect several different animals, including people. These small parasites are very easy to miss on a fecal exam and may not be present in the stool of animals infected with the organism. Repeated fecal exams are sometimes necessary to identify this parasite. Not all animals in which infection can be demonstrated have clinical signs. This leads some people to believe that the parasite may not cause disease . Most vets think that there may just be other factors, like the animal's immune response to the parasite that cause some animals to develop disease and not others. Clinical signs of giardia include weight loss, inability to gain weight appropriately during growth, diarrhea, vomiting, lack of appetite and greasy appearing stools. Them most commonly used medication for giardia infection is metronidazole (Flagyl). The organisms come from the environment and live in moist to wet areas. They are susceptible to quatenary ammonium disinfectants, Lysol and dilute chlorine bleach. Keeping the dog's environment dry helps a lot.
This disease may be contagious to people from infected dogs so good sanitary practices, like washing your hands after handling an infected puppy, are very important. If a family member develops similar clinical signs, a physician should be consulted.
Mike Richards, DVM
YES they can..and it is horrible for humans to get. You are doing the right thing with alot of hand washing, and I would wash my clothing in hot water and a bleach-type of treatment or soap. No need to be afraid-just take very good measures to prevent it. If you have to clean pens or cages,be sure to be gloved and use bleach when cleaning.
No, you can't get it from a dog. Giardia comes from drinking water contaminated with it. Only if you drink the same water the dog drank from before getting sick, would you be able to get it. Okay I can always admit when I was wrong. Check out the link below. You could get it from a dog, but if you wash your hands after handling the dog, you should have no worries.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/.
We had 2 pups come down with giardia and lost one, almost lost the other. Thru a process of elimination, we knew that the pups got giardia from the sprong water that is piped into our house. It was the only water the pups had drank as they were inside dogs. Now, we do not drink or give the spring water to our dogs to drink.
yes
my son had this when he was little and I immediately thought he must have gotten it from our dobermans or yorkie..had everyone tested and they were all clear..turned out that it came from daycare where the workers weren't washing their hands after changing diapers, etc
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment