21
Physiology & Medicine / Re: How infectious is ringworm?
« on: 22/05/2017 10:47:07 »
It would depend a bit on the species of fungus, as they can be a little host specific (some more than others), but there seem to be reports of transmission occurring in both directions. There has been a report of Trychophyton rubrum, the species most commonly associated with tinea pedis ('athletes foot') in humans, infecting a cat after the owner frequently rubbed their infected bare feet on the cat. Microsporum canis has also been recorded as being transmitted from humans to pets, although I haven't read the original papers.
For many diseases, animals are more commonly implicated as the source of human infection, rather than the other way around. Although, I tend to think there is a strong bias with these things. Humans naturally don't like to blame themselves for being the "disease carrier". They more commonly seem to blame their pet, even if their own clinical signs appeared first. Most textbooks that describe zoonotic diseases will list various animals as the "reservoirs" of infectious disease, but I've never seen anyone refer to humans as a "reservoir". And "Swine flu" is called swine flu, rather than "human-swine flu". So, when the clinical history is clouded with bias, it makes it harder to tease out what is really happening epidemiologically.
Ringworm lesions in animals tend to be highly variable in appearance, and frequently are not immediately recognisable as there is usually no "ring" and lesions may not even be remotely circular. Often systemic antifungals are required, unless there is only a single, small area affected.
For many diseases, animals are more commonly implicated as the source of human infection, rather than the other way around. Although, I tend to think there is a strong bias with these things. Humans naturally don't like to blame themselves for being the "disease carrier". They more commonly seem to blame their pet, even if their own clinical signs appeared first. Most textbooks that describe zoonotic diseases will list various animals as the "reservoirs" of infectious disease, but I've never seen anyone refer to humans as a "reservoir". And "Swine flu" is called swine flu, rather than "human-swine flu". So, when the clinical history is clouded with bias, it makes it harder to tease out what is really happening epidemiologically.
Ringworm lesions in animals tend to be highly variable in appearance, and frequently are not immediately recognisable as there is usually no "ring" and lesions may not even be remotely circular. Often systemic antifungals are required, unless there is only a single, small area affected.