DISEASES

Tapeworm
“Poop rice,” as described by some veterinarians, is the single most common infection transmitted by discarded dog poop in the United States. An estimated 35% of the indoor animals that contract tapeworm are thought to get it from infected poop brought into the home on the shoes of humans who have stepped in it. Tapeworm is a parasite that needs fleas to fulfill its life cycle, but poop is crucial to the process.
Roundworm

One worm of this class, Toxocariasis, is transmitted to humans through infected animal poop. It can cause rash, fever, and a loss of vision.

Salmonellosis

This nasty little bacterium causes fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and headaches that leave both pets and people weak and sometimes unable to recover for months. Although most often associated with uncooked chicken, this bacterium can be brought into your home — with devastating results in the young and elderly — by, once again, simply walking through infected poop.

Cryptosporidium

These protozoa cause diarrhea in dogs, cats, and humans. According to some health professionals, many of us may have had it without knowing it — it can go undetected two out of the three times it has been contracted. You might have just blamed Taco Bell.

Giardia

This single-celled organism causes flatulence (yes, that’s a bad thing), diarrhea, and overall digestive disorder. It can live outside of the host for vast periods of time, which is why it easily and successfully spreads via infected poop.

Parvovirus

This small, single DNA-stranded virus is species-specific, not xenotransferable, but there are many types of it. In dogs, the virus capsule — which, unlike some viruses, is not composed of fat which means disinfectants can’t kill it as easily — affects quick-splitting cells like those of bone marrow, the lymph system, and the intestinal tract. Its initial symptoms include Rover vomiting and diarrhea-ing, which is why those symptoms should always be treated with medical attention, especially in puppies and adolescent dogs.

E. Coli

This bacterium produces a toxin that injures the epithelial cells of our digestive tract, which can lead to severe bleeding and even permanent kidney damage.

Even “quality” poop that may not infect humans and our pets with diseases — still causes trouble.

When you leave poop unscooped, it’s eventually washed into the sewers — not the same sewers through which human poop travels, but the storm sewers, which often discharge directly into the waterways without any treatment. Thus poop degrades water quality, leading to cloudiness and an increase of algae. (If you have an aquarium, you know this to be true.) Pet poop has been considered responsible for almost one fourth of the fecal contamination of the waterways — those very same waterways from which you get your drinking water.

And then there are the flies. While they are completely indispensable in our ecosystem as garbage men (maggots recycle dead carcasses and poop), they refuse to confine themselves to the poop in your yard and on the sidewalk. They fly into your house and sit on your living surfaces. And they don’t wash their hands — so if you leave poop lying around, they’re going to touch it on the way to your kitchen. And here’s what they might bring with them:

Polio

Believe it. Poliomyelitis can be transmitted by a fly landing on your food. Susceptible people — like those who aren’t properly vaccinated — can and have contracted polio in this manner.

Shigellosis

A variety of diseases, like dysentery, that cause diarrhea.

Eye Diseases

Trachoma and epidemic conjunctivitis (a.k.a pink eye) are transmitted by houseflies in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific regions of the world.

Diseases that are less commonly transmitted by houseflies include Salmonellosis, Cholera, Amoebic Dysentery, and parasitic worms such as pinworm, whipworm, hookworm, and tapeworm.

Flies won’t necessarily acquire those diseases from poop. But if they’re carrying those diseases, poop will enable those dangerous flies to thrive.