Can a person get worms from a dog?

Unfortunately, infection with helminths (worms) from animals is a very common fact in our time. Human infection occurs through daily contact with a pet.

Can you get worms from a dog? Yes, you can. Worm eggs are found in feces, from where they spread to the animal’s fur and then pass to humans through hugs, kisses and even sleeping together with a pet.

What to do in such a situation? To get started, we recommend reading this article. This article describes in detail methods of controlling parasites. We also recommend that you consult a specialist. Read the article >>>

What common worms do people and dogs suffer from?

Scientists have already studied a number of common helminths of humans and animals. They are called common because the parasite in the process of its development needs to change its host, one of them is a person.

The dog in this case is only an intermediate carrier of the helminth.

Some of the most dangerous parasites are:

Echinococcus (Echinococcus)

Genus of tapeworms, order Cyclophyllidae. The disease is echinococcosis (it develops asymptomatically over several decades), but the most acute signals and manifestations are: nausea, vomiting, general malaise, severe aching abdominal pain.

Echinococcus

Echinococcus larvae parasitize in dog feces. Infection occurs through close contact or through objects: toys, food, bed. For this type of parasite, humans are the intermediate host.

The development is due to the fact that echinococci spread peculiar “cysts” in parenchymal organs, such as the lungs and liver, due to favorable conditions for their existence, then spread to other organs.

Canine Toxocara canis

A representative of roundworms, the genus Toxocara. The disease is toxocariasis (expressed by loss of vision, damage to the central nervous system, pneumonia, cough and vomiting). They are formed in the animal’s body in the stomach and small intestine, and spread through feces.

Basically, a person becomes infected through contact with soil where mature individuals are parasitizing. Once in the human body, they multiply in the brain, liver, lungs, eyes, forming membrane-covered growths, which leads to terrible consequences for humans.

Toxocara

Hookworms (Ancylostoma)

They belong to the genus nematodes. The disease is hookworm (the disease passes without symptoms, but subsequently manifests itself as skin itching, inflammation and dermatitis).

The parasites are localized in the small intestine of the dog and are transmitted in utero to the puppy through the placenta and milk, then the larvae are passed in the feces.

Hookworm

A person can become infected through close contact with an animal. The larvae do not fully develop in the human body, but are able to live for several years.

Pork tapeworm (Taenia solium)

A parasite of a type of tapeworm. The disease is taeniasis (it develops asymptomatically for several years, later the manifestation of vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and insomnia). Man is the final owner.

Despite the name, the intermediate host can be pigs, dogs and other animals. Infection occurs through feces due to failure to comply with basic hygiene rules.

This type of helminth is very dangerous and multiplies in the gastrointestinal tract, from where it can spread throughout all body systems, right up to the brain. They live in the human body for decades.

Pork tapeworm

Can worms be transmitted from dogs to humans, and how can they become infected?

Most existing helminths can be transmitted from animals to humans. Whether it is possible to become infected with worms from a dog or whether it can be avoided depends on proper hygiene. Transmission of the parasite to humans from dogs occurs through close contact with a sick animal. Helminth eggs may be present:

• on wool;
• in saliva;
• on the couch and pieces of furniture.

Worms

If you pet an infected dog or it licks an exposed area of ​​a person's body, the eggs can be transferred to the person. There they have the most favorable conditions for development, that is, warm, humid and plenty of food.

Important! After contact with the dog, be sure to wash your hands with soap. You should also keep household items clean.

How to prevent infection

Preventing infection is not easy. If you decide to get a dog, constant monitoring and a lot of effort are required.

• Basic rules of hygiene: be sure to wash your hands after walking outside or contacting any animal, trim your nails on time.
• Wash toys, clothes, bedding, carpets, and anything else your dog might come into contact with at least 2 times a week and do a wet cleaning throughout the house.
• Walk your dog only on a leash and avoid contact with stray dogs.
• Do not kiss the animal “on the lips”; limit close contact with it.
• Clean your pet's litter box daily if it is in the house.
• If you still suspect the presence of worms in your dog, use antihelminthic drugs for dogs (Milbemax, Febtal)

Given this necessary knowledge and rules, you will significantly reduce the risk of contracting worms from animals. It is important to remember that most varieties reach humans through the mouth, so hands and nails are one of the dirtiest places on the human body that must be treated constantly.

Know that a dog is not only the most popular and beloved pet, but also a source of infection with dangerous helminths. Keep an eye on your pets, take care of them, and you can protect yourself and your loved ones. Be healthy!

Prevention measures

Compliance with sanitation and hygiene standards is one of the most important safety conditions when communicating between humans and animals. Owners of four-legged pets should not forget about some mandatory rules:

1. Cleanly washed hands after handling a pet are the key to the health of children and adults. After walking, playing and feeding the animal, be sure to thoroughly wash your hands so that parasite eggs that get on them do not end up in the body.
2. Considering the fact that many parasites are transmitted through dog fleas, you should periodically treat the animal’s fur with special anti-flea preparations, and put on a flea collar for your pet when going for walks.
3. Dogs living in the house must have their own strictly designated place. The animal should not be allowed to sleep in the owner's bed.
4. When communicating with a pet, you should try to avoid contact with the animal’s mucous membrane. If the dog licks the owner's face or hands, it is necessary to wash them thoroughly.
5. You should not give raw meat and fish to animals, as they can serve as a source of infection.
6. Several times a month it is necessary to wet clean the premises using disinfectants. Particular attention should be paid to places where the dog spends most of his time.
7. Twice a year it is necessary to carry out preventive deworming of the animal using special preparations. If a helminthic infestation is detected, all family members should undergo treatment.

If you follow these simple rules, the risk of dangerous infection with parasites from domestic dogs will be minimal, and your four-legged pet will only be a source of joy, and not dangerous diseases.

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Interesting to know:

Types of worms in dogs

Any animal, even the most well-groomed and loved one, has parasites in its body. Coming from a walk, the dog licks its paws; while walking, it constantly sniffs the grass and trees, while swallowing worm eggs, which, once in the intestines, begin their parasitism.

Many types of worms were found in the dog, which have been studied by modern parasitologists and are easily eradicated with the help of special medications for animals. You can see what dog parasites look like in the photo.

Roundworms - nematodes

1. Toxocara canis is a white worm of the genus Ascaris, the length of which reaches 5–15 cm. It is easily found in dog feces in the form of a coiled spring. They are prolific, capable of laying up to 200 thousand eggs per day. They cause a disease in humans - toxocariasis (eye or intestinal). The peculiarity of this parasite is that infection can occur in utero, that is, puppies born to a sick mother are already carriers of the helminth.
2. Hookworm is a type of nematode up to 2 cm long. It is distinguished by the presence of a huge mouth with hook-shaped sharp teeth, with the help of which it sticks to the intestinal walls, absorbing the mucous membrane. Can live in the lungs of a dog. Eggs are released through the dog's cough, and some eggs may come to the surface of the skin through sweat ducts. If the disease is not treated, the animal may die.
3. Uncinarium stenocepalus is a worm up to 2 cm in size. Individuals of this parasite are very voracious and have two sharp plate-shaped teeth. When a dog develops such a parasite, it may develop bloody diarrhea; the helminth can destroy the animal in three weeks if it is not promptly contacted by a veterinarian.
4. Dirofilaria - worms that live in the myocardium of the heart, causing fatigue in the animal. A type of worm is the nematode microfilaria, infection with eggs occurs when a mosquito bites. These types of roundworms are not dangerous to humans, as they reproduce very slowly and practically do not come out.

These are nematodes - common parasites

Flatworms - cestodes

1. Tapeworms - a feature of this type of worm is its segmentation, that is, division into individual segments, which, together with feces, come out, infecting surrounding animals. Usually all tapeworms are very long, this allows them to parasitize the animal for a long time. They are quite rare in humans.
2. Echinococcus is a flatworm that can lead to the death of an animal and its offspring in a few weeks, as it has a large oral cavity with sharp teeth. Dogs become infected through eating raw meat.
3. Diphylobathriasis is a wide tapeworm that grows up to 10 meters in length. Infection occurs through raw fish, dividing the worm into segments.
4. Opistarchosis is a very small flatworm that parasitizes the gallbladder of a dog.

Flatworms are called cestodes

All helminths that enter the human body cause severe damage, impairing the functioning of all organs.

Most of the worms listed can live in humans, so to prevent this, you need to regularly deworm animals.

Bibliography

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brucellosis. Parasites. Link
• Corbel MJ Parasitic diseases // World Health Organization. Link
• Young EJ Best matches for intestinal parasites // Clinical Infectious Diseases. — 1995. Vol. 21. - P. 283-290. Link
• Yushchuk N.D., Vengerov Yu.A. Infectious diseases: textbook. — 2nd edition. - M.: Medicine, 2003. - 544 p.
• Prevalence of parasitic diseases among the population, 2009 / Kokolova L. M., Reshetnikov A. D., Platonov T. A., Verkhovtseva L. A.
• Helminths of domestic carnivores of the Voronezh region, 2011 / Nikulin P. I., Romashov B. V.

An article for patients with a doctor-diagnosed disease. Does not replace a doctor's appointment and cannot be used for self-diagnosis.

The best stories from our readers

Topic: Parasites are to blame for all troubles!

From: Lyudmila S. ( [email protected] )

To: Administration Noparasites.ru

Not long ago my health condition worsened. I began to feel constant fatigue, headaches, laziness and some kind of endless apathy appeared. Problems also appeared with the gastrointestinal tract: bloating, diarrhea, pain and bad breath.

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I decided to go to a private clinic. Here I was advised, in addition to general tests, to get tested for parasites. So in one of the tests they found parasites in me. According to doctors, these were worms, which 90% of people have and almost everyone is infected, to a greater or lesser extent.

I was prescribed a course of antiparasitic medications. But it didn’t give me any results. A week later, a friend sent me a link to an article where some parasitologist shared real tips on fighting parasites. This article literally saved my life. I followed all the advice that was there and after a couple of days I felt much better!

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Anyone who wants to cleanse their body of parasites, no matter what types of these creatures live in you, read this article, I’m 100% sure it will help you! Go to article>>>

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Helminths transmitted to humans

The number of different parasites that can take root in the human body is more than 400 species. The most common species that enter the human body through food or through the lungs are roundworms, pinworms and tapeworms. Most of the helminths that a dog can become infected with, even if they enter the human body, do not take root in it and leave the body over time. In this regard, the question of whether a person can become infected with worms from a dog should be considered based on what type of helminths the dog is infected with.

Most often, young children who are in close contact with them, but are not yet very familiar with the rules of hygiene, are at risk of infection with eggs of worms transmitted to humans from dogs. What worms can you get from a dog? The following types of helminthic infestation are possible:

1. Dipilidiosis is an infection with cucumber tapeworm (a type of tapeworm). It can pass to humans from an animal if it is infected with sick fleas, in whose body a worm forms. This type of helminth can parasitize in the human small intestine, causing nausea and stomach pain, anal itching, and increased saliva flow. In severe cases, anemia may develop. How are worms transmitted from dogs to humans? Most often, this parasite can be transmitted to children who play with their four-legged friend and touch their fur with their mouth.
2. Taeniasis is an infection with pork tapeworm, which can result in damage to the digestive system of animals and humans. Can enter dogs' bodies through raw meat from infected pigs, rabbits or other domestic animals. Worms of this variety can be transmitted to humans only through contaminated animal meat, so residents of Russia, unlike Koreans, have virtually no chance of becoming infected.
3. Coenurosis is an infection with one of the types of tapeworms that affect the brain and spinal cord. Parasite larvae can enter the human body through water or food contaminated with dog feces. Brain damage is accompanied by headache, vomiting, loss of consciousness and convulsions. With helminthic invasion of the spinal cord, paralysis of the lower extremities can develop.
4. Toxocariasis is an infection with Toxocara larvae that infect almost any human organ. Together with the blood, the parasites enter the intestines, liver, kidneys and lungs, where inflammation develops. Worms in a dog are transmitted to humans through its fur or from hands that are not washed after handling the animal. Symptoms of the disease appear depending on the affected organ. Toxocariasis, the source of which is sandboxes frequented by stray animals, often affects children. For them, this disease is especially dangerous because it can cause partial or complete loss of vision.
5. Echinococcosis is a dangerous disease caused by infection with Echinococcus eggs, which often cover forest plants and berries. It can be transmitted from a hunting dog to humans and is characterized by the formation of cysts with helminths in various internal organs. Symptoms depend on the location of the cyst. Echinococcosis can only be treated surgically.