j Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/puppy-ban-over-aged-care-illness-scare-20130318-2gbkb.html Puppy ban over aged care illness scare DateMarch 19, 2013 15 reading now(0) Health officials have recommended puppies be banned from aged care facilities after two outbreaks of potentially deadly Campylobacter gastroenteritis in a Canberra nursing home. But trained adult dogs will still be able to visit aged care homes. According to a paper to be presented at a Communicable Diseases Conference in Canberra on Tuesday, 15 people were infected during two separate gastroenteritis outbreaks in the nursing home between April and June last year. A healthy four-month-old puppy was identified as the likely cause of the outbreaks and excluded from the facility. An expert panel was established to investigate the case. ''Campylobacter jejuni was recovered from both human and canine faecal samples,'' the study findings said. ''A review of published literature showed puppies extensively shed Campylobacter species. ''The [aged care] setting and low infective dose also made transmission likely, despite the varying degrees of contact between the puppy and cases. ''While infection control practices were generally appropriate, the facility's animal policy did not adequately address potential zoonotic risk.'' The study's lead author, epidemiologist Cameron Moffatt of the ACT Health Protection Service, was not available for interview on Monday. An ACT Health Directorate spokeswoman was unable to disclose the name of the home or whether anybody had died as a result of the infections. Elderly people infected with Campylobacter have an increased risk of hospitalisation and death. The panel recommended the puppy be excluded from the aged care home until it was at least a year old and assessed as being suited for an aged care environment. The panel decided puppies should not be considered as aged care companions due to ''high rates of Campylobacter carriage and shedding; their social immaturity; susceptibility of elderly residents to infection and poor outcomes''. Last year, health authorities were officially notified of 477 Campylobacter cases in the ACT and 15,645 cases nationally. Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/puppy-ban-over-aged-care-illness-scare-20130318-2gbkb.html#ixzz2NwSy7fmL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirra Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Would I be correct in assuming the mode of transference is from pup licking itself then licking the elderly humans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Wonder why they had a 4 month old pup in the facility to begin with. You would think elderly people and a puppy not a good combination. My girls are accredited with the Delta society and we visit the hospital and have to have 3 monthly health screening and pathology testing to make sure they have no nasty bugs. This is only done for hospital visiting dogs not nursing home. Perhaps the rules may change after something like this. If the dogs test positive for anything nasty they are excluded from the program for 3 months and then have to have a clear tests before they can return to visiting again. It is amazing what the dogs can have and not show any signs. One of my girls has tested positive for Giardia and that ran into salmonella so she was out of action for a while but it cleared up with no medical intervention and she had no symptoms. The vet said quite often dogs will carry these bugs and us humans have no idea. Some can be transferred some not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 (edited) I heard the report about this on the ABC News. Seems it recommended that dogs must be over the age of 1 year before being used for pet therapy in aged care facilities. Makes sense when you think about the puppies' still developing immune system & the older people's weakening immune system. (Small children under 1-2 years also have a still developing immune system.) So adult, health-checked dogs are fine. Edited March 19, 2013 by mita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Maybe it was a relative bringing a puppy in to visit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Why are oldies succeptable and not young children? Given the way puppies serve as kid magnets, you'd think that kids would get Campylobacter infections on a regular basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue & Waldo Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 I thought that it was a guide dog puppy but not sure. I visit with Waldo in hospitals in Melbourne and one major hospital has banned our visits on the basis of this. I visit with Lort Smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 (edited) Seems like an extreme case. When I worked in aged care we had lots of families bring in their dogs, it's great therapy and much safer then taking them into a hospital with sick immunocompromised people. Aged care doesnt equal sick people for the most part. Sounds like poor infection control/hand washing post handling/food/mouth/animal. Edited March 19, 2013 by donatella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 More information from today's Canberra Times. The pup lived at the aged care home. The Campylobacter gastroenteritis linked to a dog in a Canberra nursing home had not killed anyone, the ACT government has confirmed. The Canberra Times reported on Tuesday 15 people had been infected during two gastroenteritis outbreaks that health authorities believe were caused by a puppy that lived there. A spokesman for Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said none of the residents had died and the puppy had been re-homed. The name of the nursing home could not be disclosed, he said. Experts have recommended that puppies, which can be highly infectious, not be taken into aged care facilities. Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/residents-survive-gastro-attack-20130319-2gdzc.html#ixzz2O1bXIiwK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudlark Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Glad to hear that dogs over 1 yr are still allowed. I wonder how risky puppies are to elderly people compared to the health risk that other people pose? I'd think that most illnesses caught by humans come from other humans. Still, I can imagine the response if pups continued to be allowed in and then some poor person died from something linked to a pup. I'm sure that the people living in that home really miss their puppy so hopefully a pets as therapy program can help out there with some visiting adult dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 More information from today's Canberra Times. The pup lived at the aged care home. The Campylobacter gastroenteritis linked to a dog in a Canberra nursing home had not killed anyone, the ACT government has confirmed. The Canberra Times reported on Tuesday 15 people had been infected during two gastroenteritis outbreaks that health authorities believe were caused by a puppy that lived there. A spokesman for Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said none of the residents had died and the puppy had been re-homed. The name of the nursing home could not be disclosed, he said. Experts have recommended that puppies, which can be highly infectious, not be taken into aged care facilities. Read more: http://www.canberrat...l#ixzz2O1bXIiwK Dear Canberra Times, a good editor is your best friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Dear Canberra Times, a good editor is your best friend. LOL, and maybe have a journo who knows what the common causes of campylobacteriosis are to start with. Much easier to blame a dog than look at the way food is handled in the kitchen, perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WoofnHoof Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Seems like an extreme case. When I worked in aged care we had lots of families bring in their dogs, it's great therapy and much safer then taking them into a hospital with sick immunocompromised people. Aged care doesnt equal sick people for the most part. Sounds like poor infection control/hand washing post handling/food/mouth/animal. I agree, it's annoying when the powers that be just find it easier to ban animals from places rather than actually learn and enforce good hygiene, they will run out of things to ban and still get people getting sick because they don't wash their grubby mitts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 The test will be if it continues post puppy banning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Yeah - but if it does, it won't make the paper... T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue & Waldo Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I read this to DH and his comment. Of course puppies are infectious-we have never gone to just look and not come home with one having caught the puppy virus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) Double post. Edited March 21, 2013 by mita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) Info from the US Government's Center for Infectious Disease Control... re pets. They mention the campylobacter bacterium being associated with puppies. I'm guessing, but maybe puppies' developing immune systems are still 'learning' to deal with that bacterium. They also refer to the necessity for good hygiene, like washing hands. On another page they say it's still OK for young children to be around their household pets, like puppies. They even have a pic of children with young puppies. Maybe it's considered that the weakened immune system of the elderly are a special case. http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/animals/dogs.htm BTW My tibbie was one of the pet therapy dogs chosen for a children's hospital. I remember the meeting when the doctor in charge of disease control in the hospital spoke, He was much in favour of the therapy dogs. They had to be above 12 months old. And I think, most of the dogs selected were 3 yrs or older (more settled in behaviour). Edited March 21, 2013 by mita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flame ryder Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 That's really sad. Old people really enjoy seeing and cuddling very young puppies. I hope I never end up in one of these places. I'd rather die than being stuck in there and not being allowed to cuddle a puppy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jed Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I thought campylobacter was relatively rare in pups (vet information). I wonder if they actually checked the pup or simply blamed it.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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