How can you prevent getting sick after going to a petting zoo?

Aug. 11, 2005

Jeffrey Bender, College of Veterinary Medicine, discussed petting zoo safety on the Aug. 11 KARE 11 Today Show.

What is the concern with petting zoos, or animals in other public settings? How is illness spread from animals to humans in these environments? How can you prevent getting sick after going to a petting zoo? How can you tell if you are sick due to an interaction with an animal?

Bender: There has been increased recognition of human disease outbreaks associated with animals in public exhibit settings. While the positive benefits of human-animal contact are valuable, it is important to minimize the risks by ensuring that the contact occurs in properly supervised and managed settings. Recently the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians developed standard recommendations to minimize disease and injury to the public.

Key Points

• Infectious disease outbreaks, rabies exposures, and injuries associated with animal exhibit settings have increasingly been reported, especially in children. These outbreaks are the result of various pathogens that some people are unable to fight off, however these pathogens are often are not harmful to the animals.
• Outbreaks are often associated with hand-to-mouth contact (fecal-oral transmission). This includes direct contact with animal or their environment.
• The single most important step in preventing human infection is to wash hands.
• Many of the diseases we can get from animals can also be acquired from contaminated food or water, and it can be difficult to identify an illness by its source. Most often, these illnesses are characterized by diarrhea and fever. If you observe these symptoms in your children, you should contact your health care provider.

Remedies

• Wash hands! Wash hands thoroughly after animal contact and before eating.
• Refrain from eating in animal contact areas. This includes items such as pacifers and sippy cups that children may have in their mouth.
• Supervise children to prevent them from being knocked down or bitten. For small children it may be appropriate to carry them through animal contact areas if there are a number of animals and people. Avoid bringing strollers in animal contact areas.
• People with compromised immune systems should take ?extra? care with thorough hand washing or limiting contact with animals and their environment.