Diseases You Can Catch from Pets: A Guide to Zoonotic Risks

Zoonotic germs spread in a few predictable ways: direct contact with skin, saliva, urine, blood, or feces; indirect contact with contaminated bedding, litter boxes, cages, food bowls, or soil; bites and scratches; vectors like fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes; and foodborne exposure from raw diets, undercooked meat, eggs, or contaminated produce.

Many pets with zoonotic infections look normal. That is why prevention focuses on routine habits rather than waiting for obvious illness. Wash hands after handling pets, litter, feces, cages, raw pet food, or reptiles. Keep pets out of food-prep areas. Scoop litter daily, pick up dog stool promptly, and disinfect contaminated surfaces as directed by your vet.

Ringworm is a fungal skin infection that spreads by direct contact with an infected pet or contaminated bedding, brushes, or furniture. People often develop a round, itchy, red skin lesion. Dogs, cats, rodents, and other mammals can carry it.

Salmonellosis can spread from reptiles, amphibians, backyard poultry, and sometimes dogs and cats through fecal contamination. People may develop diarrhea, fever, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Reptile habitats are a well-known source.

Roundworms and hookworms spread through contact with contaminated feces or soil. In people, larvae can migrate through tissues and cause inflammation. Children are at higher risk because of hand-to-mouth behavior and play in sandboxes or yards.

Cat scratch disease is associated with Bartonella henselae, usually after a scratch, bite, or saliva contact from a cat, especially a kitten. People may develop swollen lymph nodes, fever, and fatigue.

Toxoplasmosis is linked with cats, but people also get infected from undercooked meat or contaminated produce and water. Risk is most important for pregnant people and immunocompromised individuals.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease spread through urine-contaminated water or environments. Dogs can become infected, and human illness can affect the kidneys and liver. Rabies is rare in vaccinated pets in the United States, but any bite from an unvaccinated pet or wildlife exposure needs urgent medical and veterinary guidance.

Higher-risk households include children under 5, adults over 65, pregnant people, transplant recipients, people on chemotherapy, people taking immune-suppressing medications, and people living with HIV or other immune-limiting conditions. These pet parents do not always need to avoid pets, but they may need more careful species choices and stricter hygiene.

For example, reptiles, amphibians, and backyard poultry are often discouraged in homes with very young children because of Salmonella risk. Pregnant people should avoid handling cat litter when possible and should use gloves for gardening or litter cleanup if they must do it. Anyone with a weakened immune system should talk with both their physician and your vet about the safest routine for the household.

Start with the basics. Wash hands with soap and water after touching pets, feces, litter, cages, raw pet food, or outdoor animal areas. Keep up with vaccines, fecal testing, flea and tick control, and deworming recommended by your vet. Pick up dog stool promptly, scoop litter daily, and clean cages and habitats outside the kitchen when possible.

Avoid rough play that leads to bites or scratches. Keep cats' nails trimmed, use flea control, and teach children gentle handling. Do not let pets lick open wounds, faces, or food utensils. Feed commercially prepared diets or properly cooked food rather than raw diets if someone in the home is high risk.

For reptiles and amphibians, assume the habitat is contaminated with Salmonella. Wash hands after contact, do not bathe them in kitchen sinks, and keep them away from food-prep surfaces. For dogs that swim, hike, or drink from puddles, ask your vet whether leptospirosis vaccination fits your area and lifestyle.

Call your vet if your pet has diarrhea, vomiting, coughing, skin lesions, hair loss, fleas, worms, unexplained fever, jaundice, increased thirst or urination, or a bite wound. These signs do not always mean a zoonotic disease, but they can increase household risk.

A person should contact a physician promptly after an animal bite, a cat scratch followed by swollen lymph nodes or fever, persistent diarrhea after reptile or poultry contact, a ring-shaped rash after handling a pet with skin disease, or any possible exposure during pregnancy or immune suppression. Seek urgent medical care after any possible rabies exposure or severe wound infection.