Trivia Junction

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Doggie Doo is not the only hazard

In some hospitals, visits to patients by friendly dogs is a form of therapy.

The dogs boost spirits and may speed recovery.

They may also, apparently, introduce disease.

A study at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College in Canada found that 80 percent of so-called “therapy dogs” carry animal diseases capable of infecting humans. The research was published in the current issue of The Journal of Hospital Infection.

Handlers say their dogs are parasite-free, clean, well-groomed and fully vaccinated. But when researchers examined 102 therapy dogs for 18 specific pathogens, they found an astonishing 58 percent carried the Clostridium difficile bacterial strain, a major cause of colitis and diarrhea. Other pathogens detected in the dogs were salmonella, multidrug-resistant E. coli and Pasteurella spp.

Whether therapy dogs pose a significant infection threat isn't known. “The potential is there, but we don't yet know if it happens,” veterinarian Sandra Lefebvre said. “It would depend on a lot of factors, like the immune status of the people interacting with the dogs, if they have an open wound, or if they put their hand in their mouth after handling the dog.”

Lefebvre and colleagues are proposing stricter hospital visit regulations, such as no dogs hopping onto beds and no visits with patients suffering from immune-system problems.

They also recommend that everybody wash hands after a doggy visit.

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