For more information on Giardia in household pets, and the vaccine, click the following links:
Center for Disease Control Fact Sheet
Giardia Information from Banfield Hospitals
Dec. 26, 2000-
A new study shows the chance your pet dog is carrying the parasite giardia is greater than veterinarians have thought.
Doctors are now suggesting that your pet get a vaccine, so YOU don't get sick.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates reports.
The joint national study by Banfield Pet Hospitals and Fort Dodge Animal Health found giardia in too many dogs, more than they thought should commonly have the parasite. In fact 20 to 30 percent of all household dogs may be carriers without showing any symptoms - like Riley.
ED YEATES, SCIENCE SPECIALIST: "THE PARASITE IS EXTREMELY RESILIENT TO HEAT AND COLD AND IS FOUND IN ALMOST EVERY LAKE OR STREAM IN OUR VALLEY, EVEN A PUDDLE OF WATER IN A GUTTER."
RICK WHITTY, DVM, BANFIELD PET HOSPITALS: "IT STARTS OUT WITH DIARRHEA AND PROGRESSES TO BLOODY DIARRHEA AND IT GENERALLY AFFECTS THE COLON. AND FROM THERE YOU CAN GET VOMITING AND ANOREXIA WHERE THEY DON'T FEEL LIKE EATING."
That's doctor Rick Whitty's description of a sick dog. And humans can get as sick as a dog too, if they pick up the parasite from the animal's feces.
RICK WHITTY: "WE ACTUALLY DIAGNOSE GIARDIA EVERYDAY HERE AT THIS CLINIC. THAT CHANCE OF THAT DOG OR THAT CAT PASSING IT ON TO A SMALL CHILD OR EVEN AN ELDERLY WOMAN, IT INCREASES."
The new giardia vaccine was designed mainly for hunting dogs or other pets which spend a lot of time outdoors or in kennels.
But many veternarians now believe animals should probably get the vaccine as part of the routine immunization package. The only exceptions...
"I WOULD SAY THE POODLE THAT NEVER GETS OUT OF THE BACKYARD - THEY'RE NOT GOING TO GET IT."
The State Health Department says it had a case of pet-to-human giardia a few years ago. But in that case, it wasn't a dog, but a cockatiel that passed the parasite on to its master.
Ed Yeates, Eyewitness News, SLC.
