The dangers of dog poo

Just read this story on MSN news and thought it provided a good reminder of why we pick up after our dogs and even more so why we should be extra vigilant in area's where children play:

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/articles.a...ntid=154441076

I hope the person/people who couldn't be arsed to clean up after their dog in a kid's playground are feeling pretty bad now.

oh thats terrible! i never even thought dog poo could cause something like that! i hate walking round the park and seeing piles of dog poo everywhere.

I don't think it poses as much risk to adults but in kids it can cause blindness and as stated in the link if not treated asap then can cause death.

What riles me most about that story is they mention the play area was fenced off with a gate so i imagine a dog shouldn't have been in there in the first place but that is their owners fault for being irresponsible.

Awful for the little girl and her family I hope she recovers well.

i completely agree, any one who has responsibility for a dog has the repsonsibilty to clean up after him

...but have you seen some of the comments on that site! That dogs should not poo outside of their own gardens. hmmm right. I'll tell him to hold it till were home!

extracts taken from an article in the July 2009 edition of the Dogs Today Magazine

Toxocariasis is something that most people associate with dog poo, but it is equally possible to contract it from cat and fox poo, too. No one worms foxes, and cats that go outside and kill are very hard to keep worm-free - but the dog seems to be much in need of Max Clifford's services, as it is always dog poo that is linked in the media to people going blind.

To contact toxocariasis you have to ingest poo from a egg-sheding host; it must not be fresh and there needs to be other "ideal" enviromental factors in play to make it dangerous. It would seem that the dangerous situation is while gardening or if kids play in uncovered sand pits - that would seem the most likely way to swallow the horrid stuff - by getting it under fingernails and not thoroughly washing hands. As most dogs have not yet learned to bury their poos, the chance of eating affected dog poo by mistake is much less likely than cat poo. If poo is picked up promptly and disposed of, it is of no risk to anyone.

There are many urban myths with the toxocariasis figures, too. Some years ago, vet Bruce Fogle decided to approach all the hospitals in Britain to find out exactly how many people have gone blind due to this disease. It certainly wasn't one a week - in fact, it was difficult to find any cases of people going blind from this cause. Obviously, even one case is one too many.
A long time ago, a very damaging TV documentary on dog poo confused the statistic for cases of toxoplasmosis with toxacariasis and the figures have sadly been oft repeated since that time, confusing everyone.

So what are the statistics? In May last year, according to Hansard, the following question was asked in Parliament:

Mr Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reported cases of toxocariasis in humans there were in the last three years. (204904).

Dawn Primarolo: The number of toxocariasis cases repeated in the last three years in England and Wales is 2007 = 1; 2006 = 1; 2005 = 5.
So why do we all have such a fear of dog poo? Archie (Archie BrydenPhD, retired microbiologist formerly with the Public Health Laboratory Service - now called the Health Protection Agency) continues in his 1990 report: "One reason for such variation is confusion of toxocariasis with toxoplasmosis caused by a different organism, Toxoplasma gondii, which also causes eye defects".
Toxoplasmosis is caused by Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular obilgate parasite (ie it can only feed on the living tissues of the host). It is one of the commonest human parasites and has features in common with the pathogen that causes malaria. Human domestic cats are the main source of infection. Infectious oocysts are excreted by the cat for up to two weeks after the initial infection and can survive in warm, moist soil for more than one year. Humans acquire infection from cats or from eating raw or undercooked meat from another intermediate host. Pregnant women should avoid contact with cat litter and wear gloves with soil or sand".

Again according to Hansard:
Mr Dorrell: Congential toxoplasmosis is not a notifiable disease, so comprehensive figures are not available. However, reports of cases to the public health laboratory service from the Toxoplasma reference laboratories in England and Wales have averaged about 12 per year. As a proportion of the number of conceptions (between 750,000 and 850,000 per annum over the past decade), the figure is minute.

So maybe the dog was innocent?

Poor kid. How awful for her and her parents. It gives all us dog poo picker uppers a bad name. There is loads of dog poo around here. Also dogs aren't allowed between 2 points on our beach between may and sept which is a really good idea as there are loads of kids digging on the beach in the summer.
I can't believe that some idiot would walk their dog in a kids play area anyway let alone not pick it up.
They should be ashamed.

oh, i hadnt even thought it could have been a cat or fox poo!

Very good point and thanks for the quotes. I'm going back through my old Dogs Today mags to read that one properly.

I'm surprised to see so few cases but then i guess that proves the point that the media seem to be able to make a mountain out of any mole hill. Obviously it's still a serious issue but those figures are interesting.

ETA I don't think the dog was guilty I think that if it was dog poo then the owner is guilty but you're right it could easily be fox or cat poo.

OMG! i just read this comment underneath the article!

i wish i could meet this sick individual

As much as I really do feel for this girl, and hope the anti-biotics sort her infection, the UK (in my opinion) doesn't provide places for dogs to be ran off lead safely in an enclosed area, which WILL result in dogs going into closed in play areas as these are the only ones there!!!

When I was training Jess, when I first let her off the tracking lead, I used a tennis court.

One thing that really grates me about the UK is the anti-dog and pro-child attitude.

Dogs deserve safe places to run and play as well as children. Think of the amount of glass in parks which slice dogs paws... These don't get to the media but can cause devastating effects!

Sorry to rant, but I get really fed up with the media slating dogs.