Can children get parasites from dogs?

[carolynt]

Hi Shelley,

My neighbor just got a call from her vet telling her that her puppy has a parasite from eating bunnies. Can that be transfered to humans? If so what can I do?

[shelley]

It depends on the type of parasite whether it can make the jump to humans. Many can, many cannot, some try but get killed off by stomach acids. It's a risk you take when sharing your life with animals.

I've had tons and tons of every type of animal friends, and spent plenty of time playing in the mud before the area was built up with tract homes, yet the only parasite I ever caught was pinworms from the other children. So it can't be all that easy to catch them!