Do you have Labrador puppies? Cute aren’t they? Have you got plans to worm your puppy as soon as possible, or are worms something that your dog will get naturally and therefore deal with themselves, negating the need for any treatment? Well, here is something that isn’t so cute.
According to the CDC.gov website, there are around 10,000 reported cases in the US each year of Toxocariasis, an animal to human parasitic infection of roundworm caught, generally, from cats and dogs.
This statistic may not sound too big in a country of approximately 300 million people, but on the assumption that medically reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg for those unreported, are these infections more widespread?
The disease is not limited to cat or dog owners, as anyone not following sensible hygiene rules may be prone to it; the largest of this group being children. How? By coming into contact with and ingesting dirt or other matter contaminated by dog or cat stool.
While the disease can be caught from cats (Toxocara cati), the main cause, according to CDC, is from dogs (Toxocara canis). While cats tend to bury their toilet, dogs do not. Maybe this is the reason why infection from dogs is so prolific?
A puppy will usually get infected from the mother, and at only a few weeks old will produce a great quantity of eggs that soon turn into worm larvae, being excreted in the puppy’s feces. Once ingested by the human, the larvae hatch and spread throughout the body to major organs such as the lungs, heart, brain, liver and the eyes. While most infections within humans pass without any of the symptoms, in some cases serious illness can occur. If the worm gets into the eye, it can cause tissue damage and, in around 700 cases a year, cause permanent loss of some vision. The symptoms for continued infection can be fever, asthma, or pneumonia.