The dangerous reason you should never let dogs lick your face
Dogs have the ability to cheer their owners up when they are down but owners have been warned against letting dogs lick their face due to the risk of catching a potentially deadly disease.
An expert has debunked the myth that a dogs’ mouth is cleaner than a human’s.
“All you have to do is look, watch, smell and you’ll realise that is not true,” dog expert Marty Becker said.
“They raid the garbage can. You know, we give each other a peck on the cheek when we say hello, they give each other a peck on the rear end.”
Dogs carry an extensive list of bacteria which can have a serious impact on human health.
John Oxford, professor of virology and bacteriology at the Queen Mary University in London, explained how man’s best friend gets the bacteria in the first place.
“It is not just what is carried in saliva,” he said.
“Dogs spend half their life with their noses in nasty corners or hovering over dog droppings so their muzzles are full of bacteria, viruses and germs of all sorts.”
The bacteria in dog’s mouth can cause a range of serious disease, some fatal.
Capnocytophaga Canimorsus is one bacteria that is present in dog’s saliva and can cause infections such sepsis, which can lead to organ failure.
Symptoms of this infection are similar to those of other illnesses but sufferers will fall ill much more quickly.
Ringworm is believed to be one of the easiest infections dogs can pass on but if a dog is a carrier, it will show visible symptoms such as dandruff, hair loss and darkened patches on the dog’s skin and hair.
Reports have said that taking dogs to environments where several animals are close together, such as kennels, makes pets more likely of catching the bacteria.
Dogs can also carry the fatal MRSA disease but it will have no effect on them.
Children are most susceptible to catching infections from a dog’s lick.