Working with zoo animals, is it possible to bring home contagious virus or diseases?

My wife recently started volunteering at an acquarium and small zoo. She has bee in contact with reptiles, amphibians, fish, bearcats, rabbits, bats, birds, their enviorments and their foods. Yesterday I noticed our feline was not well. He has since recovered, but I thought it may have been something brought home from the zoo. I have heard that salmanilla is often found on iguanas and turtles, that true? What about foot and mouth or other type viruses? Its a samll zoo so there are no large animals like elephants which I have been told carry hepititus but I am interested in preventing the preventable. Please advise.

Working with zoo animals, is it possible to bring home contagious virus or diseases?
salmonella is commonly found in the waste material of most reptiles and amphibians. The best way to avoid it is to wash one's hands after working around them.





other pathogens are very rare but can be deadly if aquired. the best example is "parrot fever", a virus which is fatal to both birds and humans. This is not "bird flu", but a much more virulent species of virus.





mammals can host a number of contageous virus diseases. rabies is the best known and even herbivores like cattle can aquire it. cattle, sheep, goats and other ruminants can also carry anthrax, a bacterial disease.





"pox" viruses are quite capable of being passed from animals to humans. cammel pox and monkey pox are good examples. cowpox was used as the first vaccine against a human pox virus known as smallpox. dairy maids aquired an immunity after contracting a case of much milder cowpox.





rodents carry hemmoragic fever viruses. these viruses are amoungst some of the most deadly of human virus diseases. the African ebola virus is a member of this family. another species seems to be spread by southwestern deermice. this is a lung infection which can kill its victims within 24 hours of contact.





Bacterial infections are frequently due to foriegn strains of E. coli, a bacterium which inhabits the large intestines of mammals. Some strains of this bacteria are harmful to humans. the 157 strain is responcible for food poisoning. other gut bacteria can cause cholera. hog cholera can be passed to humans, I believe.





besides diseases, there are also paracites. the worst of these appear to be flatworms. these creatures are specialized to reproduce in one host and mature in another entirely different species. molluscs are frequent hosts. the common planobarius aquarium snail is host to the bilhartsia paracite. there are many species of bilhartsia with varying degrees of severity. this organism reproduces in the human liver, causing swelling and bleeding. the adults then pass eggs and the larva infect pond snails. when humans drink infected water, the cycle starts again. fortunately for fish keepers, no aquarium snail is now infected and the chain has been broken. giant African land snails have not been domesticated long enough to break the cycle however, and most are infected with lung paracites which can infect humans. these enormous land snails are great zoo attractions, but now illegal to import because of the risk of disease transmission.





most zoos have highly trained vets to keep their equally highly valuable animals healthy. of course, costs factor much more in small operations, so take this into account.
Reply:yes it is possible to bring home diseases! I would reccomend her changing clothes in the garage (if you have one), putting those clothes straight into the washer, then heading straight for the shower. There are many diseases emerging each day that are unknown, even in a clean environment such as zoos and aquariums.
Reply:I have heard of animals that carry diseases, and some things like parvo can be tracked into an area just by walking through it. That is why they ask for so many animals here to be up to date on vacinations. If your cat is up on all of her shots, she should be ok for most things. I would say though if your wife is working with this kind of animals though, she just needs to make sure that she takes off her shoes before coming into the main part of the house and washes up well as soon as she gets home, including changing clothes. That will prevent most anything she could carry. I know some exotics can carry parasites and communicable diseases, especially birds and you have to be careful around them, and just make sure you keep clean. There are tons of resources on these, so if you go online, you can find out exactly which species carries what if you are interested. The main prevention stop though is at the wash up. As long as she is keeping clean and disinfecting any open cuts or sores carefully, she will be just fine, and so should all of you. Best of blessings,


Maraleh

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