Pets can be friends when you are lonely. But, do you know that your pet can transmit disease? Pets that are not maintained health and cleanliness can transmit skin fungus.
Be sure to have your pet checked by a veterinarian and also take him to a pet salon regularly, yes. This needs to be done so that the health and hygiene of your pet is maintained, and you avoid a variety of infectious diseases that can be transmitted through animals, such as skin fungus.
What Is the Difference between Skin Fungus in Animals and Humans?
Skin fungus (ringworm) is a disorder of the skin that can occur on the body, scalp, feet, and groin. This skin disease is caused by a fungal infection known as dermatophytes.
You and your pet can transmit the disease to each other through touch. If infected, you or your pet will experience itching on the fourth day to two weeks after exposure. This fungus prefers to grow in damp areas and body parts that often sweat. Tropical and warm regions such as Indonesia can also be a place where fungi grow easily.
Actually, there is no difference between skin fungus (ringworm) in animals and humans. However, there are several different symptoms. In humans, fungal skin infections cause itchy, reddish, circular patches or rashes, with a redder edge and a scaly center. In addition, fungal skin infections in humans can cause areas of the scalp or beard to become bald.
Whereas in animals, there are not always symptoms. However, usually animals infected with skin fungus will have thickened or hardened skin, reddish and circular spots, feathers become brittle and fall out easily, there are parts of the skin that become somewhat bald or bald, and are seen frequently scratching their skin. Animal claws or nails can become more brittle and appear whiter or paler, if there is mold in the area.
Fungal skin diseases can be transmitted from animals to humans or vice versa. You will be more easily infected with ringworm if you often sleep together with your pet. In addition, items that are touched by pets can also spread this yeast infection.
Not only transmitted through pets, skin fungus is also easily transmitted from human to human. This is because this type of fungus can last a long time in places such as public dressing rooms, as well as personal items such as combs, hats, towels, or make-up brushes.
This disease is very easy to attack young children, the elderly, and people with low endurance. If you have pets like dogs and cats, you must be careful if there are any of the above symptoms for your pet. Besides dogs and cats, livestock such as cows, goats, pigs, and horses, can also be infected with this skin fungus.
How to avoid contracting fungal skin diseases from pets
Before buying or adopting a pet, it helps you examine the health conditions of these animals. In addition, make sure the animal shop you go to also has a good reputation, as well as routinely giving vaccines to the animals.
Here are some tips to prevent getting infected with skin fungus from your lovely animal:
- Routinely give vaccines to animals, in order to reduce the risk of animals infected with diseases that can be transmitted to yourself and others.
- Provide nutritious food and clean drinking water. Don't let your pet drink water from the toilet, because various kinds of infections can spread through saliva, urine and feces.
- Limit pet contact with wild animals outside the home.
- Wash your hands with soap and warm water, after touching a pet.
- Use a mask and gloves when cleaning the cage and removing animal waste.
- Avoid kissing or touching animals in the mouth.
- Don't share food with pets.
- Clean every corner of the room in the house, especially areas that are often visited by pets. Use a vacuum cleaner to clean the surface of the floor and objects in the room from feathers or pieces of animal skin that are still attached.
In addition to maintaining cleanliness of the house, circulation and air condition in the house also need to be considered, because fungus can easily grow in cold and damp places.
Various ways above you can do to avoid contracting skin fungus from your pet. If you experience symptoms of a fungal skin infection (ringworm), you should consult a doctor to make sure. Generally, skin fungal infections can be treated using ointments or creams, including those containing ketoconazole, which are sold freely in pharmacies or drug stores. However, if the condition is severe, your doctor may recommend the addition of antifungal drugs in oral form (oral medication).
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