Your Can you get tapeworm from a dog licking you? Simple and Effective Tips

How to Protect Your Family:

Wash Hands: Always wash your hands after going to the bathroom, before feeding your dog, and after petting your dog. I even wash my hands after I let my dogs outside to go potty. Your dog’s leash can drag along the ground and pick up some nasty feces, which can make both of you sick.

Shoes: Leave your shoes at the door, they are full of germs! You can pick up so many gross things outside in the grass and mud, or on the floor of a public store (especially a pet store). If you walk through public areas or parks where other dogs or wild animals dropped infected waste, you don’t want to spread that all over your house.

Kisses: Don’t let your dog lick your face, it is an easy way to spread germs. I love puppy kisses, so this one is tough for me.

Nighttime: It is recommended that we don’t share our bed with the dog. This is also a tough one for me, I enjoy cuddling with my dog. When I had the flu, I slept in a separate bed from my hubby and the dog. I quarantined myself good and luckily no one else got sick.

Waste: Clean up your dog’s waste from the yard at least a couple times per week.

Sandbox: If you have kids, cover your child’s sandbox so animals don’t use it as a litter box.

Can You Get Worms From Your Dog?

Yes, If you allow your dog to lick your face, there is a risk of getting a parasite. Hookworms, Roundworms, and the Giardia parasite can all be spread from dog to human through licking!

You can also get several bacterial infections if you allow your dog to lick your face or damaged skin. If you have an open wound that your dog licks, always wash the infected area immediately with soap and water.

Most people think using cloth handkerchiefs is definitely a greener option than using paper tissue and tossing it. However, a used handkerchief can be filled with germs. If you reuse the same handkerchief, over time you may transmit bacteria to your hands and all around the skin on your mouth and nose.

Linen hankies that you keep in your pocket or your purse and reuse are a perfect setup for bacterial growth. If you want to stay healthy and green, perhaps using old sheets or pajamas and cutting those up into single-use handkerchiefs might be an option. Either throw them out after use or wash them in hot water. Also remember to wash your hands after blowing your nose.

To prevent the infection from occurring in dogs and humans, pet owners should keep the house and yard clean and free from dog feces, and treat dogs with flea products regularly to prevent infestations. Also encourage hand washing in children after playing with the dogs.

Dr. Phyllis Ritchie is an infectious-disease specialist. Her column appears every other week. Send email questions to [email protected].

Lately I have been looking online to purchase linen hankies. In searching for them I found on the Internet that cloth hankies are in fact disgusting and germ-filled. With everyone blowing their noses right now, maybe you could tackle the hankie vs. Kleenex debate.

Can you get roundworms from your dog licking you?

Your veterinarian tells you to avoid letting your pets lick the faces of the family. She lists the numerous parasites and bacteria possibly present in pet saliva that may affect family members. Yet recent research suggests that the ancient practice of dog licking may indeed aid wound healing. My blog from two week ago looked at new research suggesting that dog intestinal bacteria may have a protective role against asthma in children.

So, is pet saliva a health hazard or benefit? The answer is probably both. However, routine veterinary care and simple sanitary practices can reduce fears that your pet’s lick is a family health risk.

The mouth and the intestines of pets can harbor bacteria and parasites that can be transmitted to humans. They can cause an assortment of medical conditions in humans. Diseases transmitted from animals to humans are called “zoonotic” (zo-not-ick).

Pastuerella is a normal inhabitant of the mouth in cats and dogs that can cause skin, lymph node and, sometimes, more severe infections. Bartonella henselae, a bacterium that is transmitted to cats from fleas is also housed in the cats’ mouths. It is the cause of a severe skin and lymph node infection called cat-scratch-fever. Theoretically, humans can be infected by these bacteria by coming in contact with the saliva from a cat or dogs lick. The Center for Disease Control reports that most pastuerella and bartonella infections are the result of bites and scratches. Little data are available to substantiate that being licked by a pet is a major means of infection

Salmonellla, E. coli, Clostridia and Campylobacter are intestinal bacteria of pets that can cause severe intestinal disease in humans. The pets can be free of symptoms yet pass these bacteria in their feces (poop). Most human infection is generally due to oral contact of hands contaminated by the pet’s feces or fecal residue. Because pets lick their anus (butt), these bacteria can also be present in the mouth. Facial and lip licking is a potential route of infection from pet to human. Again, there is little proof that this is actually a major means of transmission.

Pets are hosts for many parasitic worms and single celled parasites. Human infection from these parasites can result in intestinal disease, skin problems, blindness, and brain disorders. Pets may live with these parasites in their intestines with no signs of illness. But eggs passed in the pet’s feces can infect humans. Like bacteria, the major route of infection to humans is fecal-oral. Pets that have licked their anus can potentially pass the parasite eggs to humans during facial licking.

With the exception of two single celled parasites, Giardia and Cryptosporidia, this type of infection is not likely. Most parasite eggs are not infective directly from the anus. They must undergo a period of maturation in the feces or contaminated environment in order to infect humans. Transmission to humans would require dogs licking human faces after mouthing or eating feces that was one to 21 days old, depending on the parasite. Because cats are not feces eaters (coprophagic), humans are unlikely to become infected by parasites from their cats.

The belief in the curative power of a dog’s lick dates back to ancient Egypt and has persisted through time. In modern France a medical saying translates to “A Dog’s Tongue is a doctor’s tongue.” Recent research has identified products in saliva that indeed aid in healing.

The risk of bacterial or parasitic infection from pet licks are the greatest for very young children, the aged, and immunosuppressed individuals on chemotherapy or inflicted with AIDS. Individuals with healthy immune systems are unlikely to become infected. Despite the relatively low risk of infection from pet licks, some sensible precautions by pet owners are in order. The Companion Animal Parasite Council recommends:

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