Yet, pets, like humans, are often victims of serious infections that can unintentionally be passed on to their owners. They provide comfort, companionship, protection, amusement, and unconditional love for their owners. Forgetting to wash your hands even one time after handling or cleaning up after your animal can transmit the parasite to you. Externally, animals become infected by organisms on their bodies, especially on their fur, because of exposure to infected animal wastes. Internally, contaminated water and food can spread the problem to our pets. Most are linked to restaurants and delis where less than sanitary conditions exist - from food preparation and storage to the utensils and servers' hands.Īnimals, just like humans, can become infected with parasites and unhealthy organisms. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) cites food as the catalyst behind 80 percent of the pathogenic outbreaks in the U.S. Both plant and animal foods carry parasites, and cleaning and cooking methods often do not often destroy them before ingestion. Tap water has been found to be contaminated with harmful organisms. Since most of us eat three times a day and drink water frequently throughout the day, our exposure to these sources is constant. Tapeworms, for instance, can reach a length of 6 meters (20 feet).įood and water are the most common sources of parasite and invading organism transmission. MULTI CELLULAR ORGANISMS are so large they can usually be seen with the naked eye.SINGLE-CELL ORGANISMS tend to be at least 10 times larger than bacteria, or about.They are single-cell organisms that reproduce independently. BACTERIA vary widely in size and shape, but tend to be at least 10 times larger than viruses, or at least 1 micrometer (1 millionth of a meter) long.

They have so few genes and proteins of their own that in order to reproduce they need to commandeer the machinery of the cells they invade. VIRUSES are the smallest of all infectious agents, averaging about 100 nanometers (100 billionths of a meter) in length.The approximate sizes of microbes can be approximated by using the following rule of thumb:

Parasite in city guide