Hep B § C from pets?

[Makayad]

Can a human contract Hep B or C from a cat or a dog? Are they affected by the same kinds of viral Hep as humans? Where can I find more info about this? Thanx.

[LvdByGod]

HEY chevy girl, i wish i could answer your question and help you...it is 4:30 am here in chicagoland and thought i would say hi since i'm up...and you too...my 5 kitties are all declawed (all four feetees) and they seem very happy to me...i know it's controversial...they are all indoor kitties...

i'm actually more afraid of passing on my hcv to my little sweet kitty cat...simba. he is so cuddley and cute and sweet...a real lover...purrr...purrr...purrr...he is constantly by my side and being loved upon...

i bottle fed him and his sister when they were abandoned at 2 days old...now thier my kids...i have no people type kids...so they have stolen that place in my heart...esp...simba...(will have to post a  picture of him on "hot heps" some time...)

i hope kitties can't get the dreaded virus...does anyone know if it's even possible?...i try not to get blood on him obviously...ya know their always licking themselves...hmmmm

have a great work day chev...wish i could answer your question about the lympth nodes...i'll see if i can find out anything since i'm not going anywhere today...i'll do a search on lymphs and hcv or something if i find any i will post...talk to ya later...sandi

[Eyedeas]

Get to the doctor and check things out.  10 weeks with Hep may not make a huge difference as slow acting as it is, but there are a myriad of other things that could cause the swelling that catching early could make a world of difference!

Kim

[Xenigma]

From what I understand, the only Hepatitis that can be spread from Animal to Human is the Hepatitis E Virus from swine. Check out the url below and scroll down to conclusions...
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no5/03-0908.htm

From a story I read a while ago (which I can not find now) 2 Japanese guys went boar hunting in 1997.  They both contracted HEV from undercooked boar meat.
(just another reason to make sure you cook pork thoroughly)

Here is another link re:HEV
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/cei/hepE.htm

My dogs Vet just told me that even though Lupus, RA, etc. is not thought to be contagious, they are finding owners and their pets are both being diagnosed with the same immune system disorders, as is more that one pet in the household.

Here is an interesting page that touches on that...  http://www.jrheum.com/abstracts/editorials/990497.html

enigma

[Indiana]

No....You just can't get Hbv or Hcv from your pets.
Now Chev....that other stuff you're talkin about is probably possible if your outdoor cat is a Hired Killer in the world of Neighborhood animals. If he's goin all "Jeffrey Dahmer" on the things he's killin and eatin em, he very well could bring home some nasty things to Momma. With our white counts so low on the Meds, it's just too easy to catch a bacterial infection from anywheres.
You've probably got a couple of choices to make.
You can keep that boy in the house for the next few weeks until you get done.
You could quit giving him a "Tongue Bath".
You could quit sleepin with Hairy Men that purr.
(I know those last 2 will be tough for you but its only a few weeks)

You really should run those swollen glands past Dr. Brown Eyes though. Hey....think about it.....He will have to inspect them VERY closely (in the interest of medicine, of course). A few tests now could save you a whole lotta problems later.

[Honey15637]

Yikes....I have indoor/outdoor cats and never even thought of this.  And I never heard of giving hep c to an animal!  Chevy...I agree with everyone...Get that checked out! I know you are ready to make the run and be done but better safe then sorry later!  Take care!

[Galen]

While you can't pass HCV to your cats there is a nasty they can give to you called toxoplasmosis from fecal matter when you clean the litter box, especially an indoor/outdoor cat.  You can read all about it at the CDC's site at
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/toxoplasmosis/factsht_toxoplasmosis.htm

[Amerabrit]

GO TO THE DOCTOR, Chevy.  You know better, 10 weeks is too long to wait..  Please.., pretty please:)

Cats other animals in beds:  Lyme disease is serious business and our immune systems are struggling as it is so please, consider the risk of allowing an indoor/outdoor animal to sleep on beds.

[simpleman]

I asked my doc if I could give my dogs HepC and said yes. He said they are purposely infected for research purposes. Don't know if it could go the other way. Maybe it's only possible by an injection. That's just what the doc told me.

[cuteus]

I have been wondering that for a while.  How would they get it? Blood to blood also? How can their blood come in contact with ours.  I have a rabbit that scratches me enough to draw some blood, then he grooms and licks his paws.  I hope they can't get it by ingestion. I guess any mammal is at risk of infection?

[Indiana]

Here are a couple of links with short excerpts from each.....

From...
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/news/newsLetter/advocate1003.html

Along with HCV’s variability and rapid mutation, several other obstacles stand in the way of developing an effective vaccine. HCV is difficult to isolate from patients, is hard to grow in laboratory cell cultures, and is not easy to test in animals. Chimpanzees are the only animals that can be infected with HCV, but the disease develops differently in chimps than in humans. HCV can also be studied in mice or other small animals with transplanted human liver cells, but again this is not an ideal model. Also, there are no good tests to determine how well antibodies neutralize HCV.

And from
http://www.ssmonline.org/News/ViewRelease.asp?ReleaseID=4332

The discovery by Dr Lanford’s group that a potential vaccine against one HCV strain could produce protective immunity to multiple strains was based on research with chimpanzees at SFBR’s Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio. Chimpanzees, initially used by scientists at the National Institutes of Health and SFBR as an animal model for HCV, are the only animals besides humans that can be infected with the virus. As with humans, some chimpanzees maintain chronic infections, and others manage to clear their infections; however, unlike humans, chronically infected chimpanzees do not develop liver disease.

So the only animals that WE can infect are Chimpanzees. If you've got one of THOSE for a pet then I guess you might need to worry...........

[cuteus]

THANKS, what a relief! I guess we can't get that mail order chimp now...

[catherine194]

You do need to wear gloves when emptying the litter box or bird cage. You are immosuppressed and can get histoplasmosis and by the time it is diagnosed you are very sick. It minics menigitis (meningitis) and cat scans can catch it because the lesions on your brain show up. I will run the risk because I love Lucky with all my heart and he has never left my side. Our pets are therapeutic and we need them and they need us.

[GALLIUM]

as well as gloves use a mask while changing the litter.

[cindee]

Hey girl, I thought I posted and told you I did have problems w/ swollen lymph glands. I went to my GP because I thought I was getting strepe throat. They did a swab test and results were no on the strepe. But I didn't get an answer, except that....maybe it was caused by tx. I still get them and I've been off tx for 6months now. I have an appointment w/ a hepatologist on May 21st, for second round of tx. (different doc) When I went to Duke the doctor there said I need to do another 52wks of tx. When you go to the doctor...please let us know what he says. That's on my list of questions for my new doctor. I hope you are feeling good. I love ya bunches girl! Cindee