Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a cold right now and i wanted to hold my dragon but i am worried that he might catch it, is that even possible can he get sick from me. And also he had pinworms is there any chance that i might have pinworms from him?

Yes to some, no to others

In this case, yes, you could get the pinworms, but it is not likely. You would have to come in direct contact with the feces and then either put your fingers in your mouth or touch an open wound.

As to the cold, no, almost all viruses are species specific and do not cross over, on rare cases they do if they evolve over time like HIV and jump to another species. To the best of my knowledge there are no virus in bearded dragons that can cross to humans. There are bacteria that can and do at times with poor cleaning and husbandry

Intersting to note, adenovirus in humans is a common cold and mild, but the strain of adenovirus in bearded dragons is deadly. Your cold you can not pass to the beardie, but he can pass the pinworms to you.

But common handwashing and cleanliness will avoid any worms or bacteria

Fortunately pinworms are quite species specific. Humans are infected by only a single species, E. vermicularis which is known as "the human pinworm". Pinworm ova from other species (usually rodent) are sometimes found in human faecals but they are merely "passing through" and do not complete their life cycle outside of their natural host.

T.B

species that could where thought to pass between cats and humans and birds and humans, but I can not locate where I read it at.

When not so late I will try and locate where this is coming from

>>species that could where thought to pass between cats and humans and birds and humans, but I can not locate where I read it at.

Perhaps you were thinking of another type of nematode? Cats do not actually carry pinworms (Oxyurids) nor do birds if memory serves.

T.B

Pinworms, roundworms, hookworms, and ringworms. I reread it and the other three are able to pass to humans it seems from animals

Here is the link for it

Pinworms, roundworms, hookworms, and ringworms

From: http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Enterobiasis.htm

"The nematode (roundworm) Enterobius vermicularis (previously Oxyuris vermicularis) also called human pinworm. (Adult females: 8 to 13 mm, adult male: 2 to 5 mm.) Humans are practically the only hosts of E. vermicularis. A second species, Enterobius gregorii, has been described and reported from Europe, Africa, and Asia."

The statement in bold would indicate is it found in other host, but does not say what.

From http://www.parasitol.or.kr/kjp/volume/abs9209.html

AU: Ahn-YK; Chung-PR; Soh-CT
AD: Department of Parasitology, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine.
SO: Kisaengchunghak-Chapchi. 1992 Sep; 30(3): 163-7
ISSN: 0023-4001
PY: 1992
LA: KOREAN; NON-ENGLISH
CP: KOREA
AB: Hugot (1983), Hugot and Tourte-Schaefer (1985) reported that nematodes of the genus Enterobius causing human enterobiasis might be classified into two different species on the basis of the size and shape of spicule in male worms. E. gregorii Hugot, 1983 has significantly shorter spicules in males than those in E. vermicularis. A total of 194 male Enterobius were collected from 17 schoolchildren by anthelmintics at Wonju, Kangwon-do. The sizes of spicules and morphologies were comparatively observed. Two different types of spicules in male Enterobius were also observed in Korea. Out of 112 male worms observed, the percentages of E. gregorii (short-spicule type) and E. vermicularis (long-spicule type) were 23.2% and 76.8%, respectively.
MESH: Age-Factors; Child-; English-Abstract; Enterobiasis-epidemiology; Enterobius-anatomy-and-histology; Enterobius-classification; Korea-epidemiology
MESH: *Enterobiasis-parasitology; *Enterobius-isolation-and-purification
TG: Animal; Human
PT: JOURNAL-ARTICLE
AN: 93041569
UD: 9302

I took that to mean it is also in animals, unless he is calling the Animal it is in Human.

Confusing more they are called roundworms and many medical sites state roundworms are able to pass between humans and animals, by children playing in the sand or dirt. Yet the same sites clearly state Cat and dogs do not carry pinworms.

Perhaps like coccidia that is said to not be able to infect humans, yet there is one type that does and is documented passing from reptiles to humans.

Let's go back to pastels and clear names, I understand that better... I think

>>The statement in bold would indicate is it found in other host, but does not say what.

Some literature suggests that this species can also infect the higher non-human primates. Still other sources state that it is a similar but different species.

>>Confusing more they are called roundworms and many medical sites state roundworms are able to pass between humans and animals, by children playing in the sand or dirt. Yet the same sites clearly state Cat and dogs do not carry pinworms.

Common usage terms can become very confusing. All nematodes are technically "roundworms" but the term roundworm is generally used to refer to Ascarids which can indeed be zoonotic.

>>Let's go back to pastels and clear names, I understand that better... I think

You are doing very well at understanding this. The similar and over-lapping common and latin names can make parasitology a very confusing subject.

T.B