You may have heard the buzz in the news lately. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an investigation into an outbreak of Campylobacter infection and a possible link to puppies from pet stores, particularly from the Petland pet store chain. Dr. Michele Drake discusses this topic and presents some tips on how to help avoid the spread of infection in our latest video.

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So if you get a puppy from a pet store, it's best to go straight to the veterinary office, have a fecal done, it's a test where we check for parasites and just an overall fitness exam for the puppy, but then also just to make sure that everyone's just careful and washes their hands well, but puppies are totally safe.

 

Video Transcript:

Hi, I'm Dr. Michele Drake. I'm here today with Kenzie, one of my favorite patients to talk a little bit about all the buzz that's going on about puppies and illnesses that have crept up. So the scoop on the story is that there were people who have contracted campylobacter, which is a type of bacteria and they've traced the bacteria in these people that got ill from puppies at a pet store called Petland, which is in the Midwest.

So basically, campylobacter is a bacteria that was contracted because these puppies probably had some diarrhea, people handled the puppies, and then did not wash their hands properly before probably eating some food, and then that's the way they ingested the bacteria. It was isolated specifically to this area. So I just want to make sure everyone knows that really puppies are very safe, but it's always a good idea when you get a puppy, or you have a puppy to make sure that children that are handling the puppy or really anybody that you wash your hands well before you eat.

That's a no brainer, but certainly if you get a new puppy in the household, make sure you wash it really well once you get it, because it may have just been exposed by stepping in things at say a shelter or a pet store. I'm not saying that they're doing anything wrong, but just basically that they could have been exposed to things.

These puppies that do go through pet stores are under a fair amount of stress, or transport, or their transport are not maybe the best conditions always, and they're just exposed to a lot. So if you get a puppy from a pet store, it's best to go straight to the veterinary office, have a fecal done, it's a test where we check for parasites and just an overall fitness exam for the puppy, but then also just to make sure that everyone's just careful and washes their hands well, but puppies are totally safe.

In fact, they're really great for everyone's health to have a really great emotional support puppy and someone fun in the household. So we encourage you to get puppies when it fits your family well, but just be careful and wash your hands well.

You can learn more about the CDC's investigation here.

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