Disease Transmission in Dog

Before dog can contract a disease, they must in some manner be exposed to the infecting organism. Exposure can come about in many ways.

Bacterial diseases may be contracted by an dog eating infected food, by inhaling the bacteria, or by bacteria entering cuts or puncture wounds. If a dog is bitten by another dog, the wounds may fester by the multiplication of bacteria inserted by the tooth. Bacteria may be drawn into the system or they may be present in air passages, waiting for a virus or general loss of resistance to weaken tissue and set up conditions favorable to their growth.

Some virus diseases can be passed from one dog to another by inhaling one brief sniff of a sick dog's breath, or even by inhaling airing a room in which a sick dog has sneezed and left minute droplets floating about carrying the virus. Other virus diseases can be transmit-ted by bites, as is what happens in rabies.

Fungus diseases are spread in several ways: by contact, by wind, by water. Suppose your Collie develops a concentric bare spot on its nose.How did it get there? The dog may have pushed its nose against a spot on your infected cat, or it may have rested in a couch where the cat had been lying previously, or a breeze may have blown spores on it. Some-how they settled on the nose and grew. Some of the worst skin diseases dog can get are contracted by its lying on a lawn or rubbing against another dog, or from dust blown on it that contains spores that find away into the skin through fleabites.