Volume 18, Number 12—December 2012
Peer Reviewed Report Available Online Only
Surveillance of Zoonotic Infectious Disease Transmitted by Small Companion Animals
, Edward Breitschwerdt, Sarah Cleaveland, Umesh Karkare, Chand Khanna, Jolle Kirpensteijn, Thijs Kuiken, Michael R. Lappin, Jennifer McQuiston, Elizabeth Mumford, Tanya Myers, Clarisa B. Palatnik-de-Sousa, Carol Rubin, Gregg Takashima, and Alex Thiermann
Table
Selected zoonotic infectious diseases of dogs and cats*
| Route of human exposure | Agent | Principal clinical syndromes | Human surveillance mechanisms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bites, scratches, or contact with exudates | Bartonella spp.† (bacteria) | Cats and dogs: subclinical fever, hyperglobulinemia, endocarditis, myocarditis, epistaxis, granulomatous rhinitis, uveitis, lymphadenopathy; humans: fever, malaise, endocarditis, myocarditis, meningitis, encephalopathy, lymphadenopathy, pulmonary granulomata, neuroretinitis, bacillary angiomatosis, bacillary peliosis | None |
| Capnocytophaga canimorsus (bacterium) | Cats and dogs: subclinical oral carriage; humans: bacteremia | None | |
| Francisella tularensis‡ (bacterium) | Cats: septicemia, pneumonia; humans: ulceroglandular, oculoglandular, glandular, pneumonic or typhoidal (depending on route of inoculation) | NNDSS | |
| Staphylococcus spp.§ (methicillin resistant) (bacterium) | Cats, dogs, and humans: subclinical cutaneous infections, bacteremia | None | |
| Yersinia pestis‡ (bacterium) | Cats and humans: bubonic, bacteremic, or pneumonic (depending on route of inoculation and success of initial therapy) | IHR (pneumonic only), NNDSS | |
| Rabies (virus) | Cats, dogs, and humans: progressive CNS disease | NNDSS, WAHID | |
| Dermatophytes (fungi) | Cats and dogs: superficial dermatologic disease; humans: superficial dermatologic disease and deep tissue infections in immunocompromised patients | None | |
| Sporothrix schenkii‡ (fungus) | Cats and humans: draining cutaneous tracts | None | |
| Contact with infected feces (ingestion unless otherwise indicated) | Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli (bacteria) | Cats, dogs, and humans: diarrhea and vomiting | WAHID, FoodNet |
| Escherichia coli (bacterium) | Cats, dogs, and humans: diarrhea and vomiting | WAHID (STEC), NNDSS (STEC), FoodNet (STEC) | |
| Salmonella spp. (bacterium) | Cats, dogs, and humans: diarrhea and vomiting | WAHID, NNDS, FoodNet | |
| Helicobacter spp.¶ (bacterium) | Cats and dogs: vomiting; humans: reflux disease and vomiting | None | |
| Yersinia enterocolitica (bacterium) | Cats and dogs: subclinical infection or abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea; humans: diarrhea and vomiting | FoodNet | |
| Entamoeba histolytica# (ameba) | Dogs and humans: diarrhea and vomiting | None | |
| Ancylostoma braziliense, Uncinaria stenocephala, A. caninum (dog only) and A. tubaeforme (cat only)** (hookworms) | Cats and dogs: blood-loss anemia, diarrhea, unthrifty; humans: cutaneous larva migrans, eosinophilic enteritis | None | |
| Baylisascaris procyonis (roundworm) | Dogs: failure to thrive; humans: visceral larva migrans, CNS disease | None | |
| Toxocara canis (dogs) and T. cati (cats)†† (roundworms) | Cats and dogs: vomiting, diarrhea, failure to thrive; humans: ocular and visceral larva migrans | None | |
| Strongyloides stercoralis‡‡ (threadworm) | Cats and dogs: bloody diarrhea, blood-loss anemia, failure to thrive; humans: polysystemic disease | None | |
| Echinococcus multilocularis (cestode) | Cats and dogs: subclinical infection; humans: polysystemic hydatid disease | WAHID | |
| Echinococcus granulosus (cestode) | Dogs: subclinical infection; humans polysystemic disease | WAHID | |
| Cryptosporidium spp.§§ (coccidian) | Cats, dogs, and humans: diarrhea and vomiting | NNDSS, FoodNet, CryptoNet | |
| Toxoplasma gondii¶¶ (coccidian) | Cats: rarely diarrhea, polysystemic disease; dogs: neuromuscular and rarely polysystemic disease; humans: occular, CNS, and polysystemic disease | WAHID | |
| Giardia spp.## (flagellate) | Cats, dogs, and humans: diarrhea and vomiting | NNDSS | |
| Contact with infected respiratory or ocular secretions | Bordetella bronchiseptica (bacterium) | Cats and dogs: sneezing and coughing; humans: pneumonia in immunosuppressed patients | None |
| Chlamydophila felis (bacterium) | Cats: conjunctivitis, sneezing; humans: conjunctivitis | None | |
| F. tularensis*** (bacterium) | Cats: septicemia, pneumonia; humans: ulceroglandular, oculoglandular, glandular, pneumonic or typhoidal (depending on route of infection) | None | |
| Streptococcus group A (bacterium) | Cats and dogs: subclinical transient carrier; humans: strep throat, septicemia | None | |
| Y. pestis*** (bacterium) | Same as entry under bites, scratches, or contact with exudates | None | |
| Influenza A virus | Cats and dogs: respiratory disease, systemic disease; humans: respiratory disease | WHO Global Influenza Program | |
| Contact with infected genital secretions | Brucella canis††† (bacterium) | Dogs: orchitis, epididymitis, abortion, stillbirth, vaginal discharge, uveitis, fever; humans: fever, arthralgia, headache, fatigue, myalgia, weight loss, arthritis/spondylitis, meningitis or focal organ involvement (endocarditis, orchitis/epididymitis, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly) | WAHID, NNDSS |
| Coxiella burnetti*** (rickettsia) | Cats: subclinical, abortion or stillbirth; humans: fever, pneumonitis, lymphadenopathy, myalgia, arthritis | NNDSS | |
| Contact with infected urine | Leptospira spp.(bacteria) | Dogs: fever, vomiting, pulmonary hemorrhage, renal and hepatic dysfunction, encephalopathy, uveitis; humans: fever, headache, myalgia, meningitis, pulmonary/hepatic and renal dysfunction, hemorrhagic complications | WAHID, some U.S. states |
| Flea-borne | Bartonella spp.† (bacterium) | Same as entry under bites, scratches, and contact with exudates | None |
| Y. pestis (bacterium) | Same as entry under bites, scratches, and contact with exudates | None | |
| Rickettsia felis (rickettsia) | Cats: subclinical, fever; humans: fever, CNS disease | None | |
| Rickettsia typhi (rickettsia) | Cats: subclinical; humans: fever, polysystemic disease | None | |
| Tick-borne‡‡‡ | Borrelia burgdorferi (bacterium) | Dogs: subclinical infection, fever, polyarthritis, nephropathy; humans: polyarthropathy, cardiac and CNS disease | NNDSS |
| Anaplasma phagocytophilium (rickettsia) | Cats and dogs: fever, polyarthritis; humans: fever, polysystemic disease | NNDSS | |
| Ehrlichia spp. (rickettsia) | Dogs: subclinical infection, fever, polysystemic disease; humans: fever, polysystemic disease | NNDSS | |
| Rickettsia rickettsii (rickettsia) | Dogs: subclinical infection, fever, polysystemic disease; humans: fever, polysystemic disease | NNDSS | |
| Sandfly-borne | Leishmania infantum and L. chagasi (protozoa) | Cats and dogs: cutaneous lesions and polysystemic disease; humans: polysystemic (visceral) disease | None |
*NNDSS, Nationally Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System; IHR, International Health Regulations (require report to WHO); Unthrifty, failure to grow or develop normally because of disease; CNS, central nervous system; WAHID, World Animal Health Information Database; STEC, Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli; WHO, World Health Organization. Further information on zoonoses of dogs and cats is available (www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/list_zoonotic.htm, http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx, www.who.int/ctd/intpara, and www.who.int/topics/rabies/en/).
†B. henselae, B. koehlerae, and B. clarridgeiae are transmitted among cats by Ctenocephalides felis fleas and B. vinsonii subsp. subsp. berkhoffii, B. vinsonii subsp. aurpensis, B. washoensis, B. elizabethae, B. clarridgeiae, and B. quintana are transmitted among dogs by C. felis, C. canis, and Oropsylla montana fleas and are also listed under flea-borne disease. There are other Bartonella spp. with zoonotic implications. Cats generally show development of a higher level of bacteremia than dogs and are epidemiologically linked more frequently to human disease. The vector is unknown for some Bartonella spp.
‡Dogs rarely shed enough organisms to be a public health risk.
§Both Staphylococcus aureus and S. pseudintermedius have been implicated as zoonotic.
¶Most Helicobacter spp. found in cats and dogs are host-adapted species. When H. pylori is detected in a cat or dog, it is likely from reverse zoonotic transmission.
#Infection of dogs in the United States is believed to be rare.
**A. caninum is the species most commonly linked to enteritis in humans.
††Eggs require a larvation period in the environment to be infectious. Thus, direct transmission is less likely than exposure through environmental contamination.
‡‡Transmission is primarily by larval penetration of skin.
§§Most humans are infected by C. hominus or C. parvum, and most cats and dogs are infected by C. felis or C. canis, respectively. These host-adapted species are less commonly identified in human feces, and information concerning disease associations with infection is limited.
¶¶Sporulation of oocysts occurs after passage into the environment; oocysts are environmentally resistant and it is estimated that only 1% of cats shed oocysts at any time. Thus, direct transmission is less likely than exposure through environmental contamination.
##Host-adapted and zoonotic assemblages exist. Cats and dogs can harbor zoonotic assemblages, but whether levels of infection result in reinfection of humans is not established.
***Can also be vector-borne.
†††Brucella spp. transmission from dogs to humans is by direct or indirect exposure of organism to broken skin/mucous membranes by infected aborted fetuses, placental fluid, tissues, and semen.
‡‡‡Borrelia spp. DNA has been amplified from some ticks, but the extent of the role that ticks play in the transmission of these agents has not been fully ascertained.