Two bad pieces of news about norovirus

[gumdropper1]

1. Pet dogs can carry human norovirus

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/0...s-study-shows/


2. Norovirus can live in well water for at least two months, and possibly 3 1/2 years!

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...rinking-water/

[kristinak]

The article about the well water is very interesting. I got noro last year, and I literally had not been out of the house off my horse farm in several days. I had NO idea where I could have picked it up. I actually had well water, which I normally would never drink, but I was living on Ocala limestone, which is actually the most delicious water you've ever tasted..hmmm..
The dog story freaks me out, but I've had dogs my entire life and have NEVER witnessed them being sick nor caught anything off of them. I don't know how much truth there is to that one...

[sunnyskies]

Yeah, the dog story seems a little out there to me. It's possible, as I suppose the scientists know more than I do. But if it is true, it would have to be rare and more like a freak accident/incident. Well water, that I can believe.

[Jdpillow]

This definitely makes me not want to drink my water at home...

[shootingstar]

The worse thing a nurse could have told me about 5yrs ago when my son was in casualty with a very bad virus & dehydrated, was 'not to drink our tap water as you never know what is in it' & she felt that was where alot of people were getting that bug from.
I don't how true it could be, but I haven't touched tap water since. Instead now Ive wasted alot of money on bottled water for the whole family, but I just can't take the risk now she has that in my head. Our tap water is disgusting anyway, but isn't that where you get all your fluoride from?

[wordmister]

Dogs are wonderful but we should always wash our hands after touching any animal.

[mightyquinn]

I have to take my new puppy to the vet the frist part of Feb for another round of shots. I know dogs can carry somethings we can catch but Noro was not on the list they gave me because I looked. I will talk to them when I go in.

[arora]

My puppy loves to paw at my mouth, surprise luick and kiss my mouth, I'm sure I've gotten nasty germs in my mouth before. Lol. I worry about it when it happens but this ehh what the heck. I haven't gotten sick from him. Knock on wood. Hopefully It stays that way bc nothing will keep me from livin my puppy I'm hoping that article is a rare case an they blew it out of proportion. Cuz it is kinda scary.

[scaredsick]

I've had dogs all my life and never once got noro from them.

[Cupcake x]

Thanks for the scare.... I have two dogs.

[paulinek]

Oh crap about the dog thing, mind you, one thing in that article was wrong, as it says it is transmittable in saliva which it isn't.

Mind you , as long as you do the same as normal and wash hands and don't let your dog prepare your food then there's not much extra risk really, although if the dog starts to cough and heave then you might want to launch it into the back garden alot quicker than normal...

[CMM811]

The dog thing is scary BUT I'm not freaked out...that would mean my dog would have to go out and lick v* or d* of a infected person. My dogs don't leave my house or backyard. And we don't have well water here in NV...

[Jay417]

The well water article interested me. The well water must be contaminated from sewage, so if you are rural and your septic tank is far away from, and perhaps down hill from, your well the risk should be nil. I live in a county, very rural, and use well water. Now the city close by is under constant harassment due to poor water quaility. I honestly think that "city" water systems have the chance to be contaminated just as easy as well water.

[kristinak]

Dogs are wonderful but we should always wash our hands after touching any animal.

I would have to keep my hands in a bucket of soapy water all day long 24/7. I have two dogs that I always have my hands on and a horse that I ride and love on every single day. Washing your hands every time you touch any animal is a little excessive in my opinion.

[paulinek]

I would have to keep my hands in a bucket of soapy water all day long 24/7. I have two dogs that I always have my hands on and a horse that I ride and love on every single day. Washing your hands every time you touch any animal is a little excessive in my opinion.

I agree. Washing hands after going to the loo and before preparing and eating food is ample.

[sage]

The dog thing makes sense as dogs are just another "surface" that are touched by human beings. The dogs themselves don't get the norovirus and pass it on - it would be on their fur in the form of human fecal matter. (Yetch!)

Well water also makes sense, if it's not tested, filtered and chlorinated it can be quite susceptible to things like noro and e-coli (which is far more dangerous).

Many people also get noro from restaurant food which has been handled by people who haven't washed their hands. This accounts for 70% of all "food poisoning."

[paulinek]

The dog thing makes sense as dogs are just another "surface" that are touched by human beings. The dogs themselves don't get the norovirus and pass it on - it would be on their fur in the form of human fecal matter. (Yetch!)

Well water also makes sense, if it's not tested, filtered and chlorinated it can be quite susceptible to things like noro and e-coli (which is far more dangerous).

Many people also get noro from restaurant food which has been handled by people who haven't washed their hands. This accounts for 70% of all "food poisoning."

This is why i hate strangers stroking my dog, it happens all the time when we take him to the seaside for the day, as he's still a puppy so gets lots of "aww isn't he cute" comments...luckily 'pets at home' own brand antibacterial anti-odour dog spray contains benzalkonium chloride so i always give him a good squoosh of that when we get home

[BenBHartnett]

I don't agree with any of those articles. First, I don't think they have credibility. Just because an article says something does not mean it is true. Dog's cannot carry the virus in their saliva because their saliva kills germs as I have been told. Also, it is unlikely that dogs can have symptoms of the Norovirus. Viruses are very strict on who they infect. They are different types of animal viruses for animals. For example, there are human viruses and dog viruses. To me, these articles have no credibility especially the dog article. Also, I don't see how a virus can live in well water for 61 days. Viruses do not live that long. I have studied a lot of microbiology, and I do not see that a virus can live that long. At most the norovirus lives up to 14 days. However, thanks for sharing these articles! It's always fun to think about these things. I wouldn't worry about what these articles say. Furthermore, I didn't see any citation notes for the studies.

Edit: I stand corrected about the dog. It may be possible that they can have the virus present in their system. However, I think the saliva would kill the virus before it had a chance to enter the dog's stomach.

[cuhley70]

That is 4 out of 92 dogs and only 2 of 4 showed symptoms. I have had 14 dogs since I was little and never caught anything from them. Do remember that dogs do gross stuff. Some eat stool and *v. It is gross but they do it. As for well water I grew up on well water. My father has always dumped bleach down the well a few times a year

[ForeverrCaitlin]

So if you can catch this from drinking the tap, what about just teeth brushing, face washing, even hand washing? Could you catch it just by doing everyday things like that?

[ann32]

I'm a vet tech and a dog owner. You can NOT transfer noro from dog to human

[tshell]

I have never heard of catching that from a pet. But I do wonder about the well water issue. We have a well. I have a filtration system on the water lines just before they come into my house. Needless to say, YUCK! That filter is supposed to last 90 days. NO WAY! It is nasty. I share a well with my mom and after seeing how nasty the filter gets, I'm buying her a filter for her house too. We just replaced our well pump a few years ago. I don't think they come with filters but they should! I'm going to have to do some research in this...
thanks for the heads up!
michelle

[asianeko]

I can see maybe if some particles are on a dog's fur and then you get all up in it. But I can tell you that I have never caught anything like that from a dog, and I've been grooming for 4 years, a dog owner for over 15.

[Still A Weirdo]

This did make me worry about drinking my own tap water, even though I do it all the time every day. I've literally just had a big glass from the tap, and I'm now feeling anxious. If you drink water from a water filter is that ok?

[LadyElle]

My kids are getting over this now, they caught from another child and I was talking to my friend and she said her dog caught it too!! Crazy!! I didn't know they can catch it from humans.

[kristinak]

My kids are getting over this now, they caught from another child and I was talking to my friend and she said her dog caught it too!! Crazy!! I didn't know they can catch it from humans.

the dog "catching it" was purely a cooincidence. They cannot catch it from us.
In regards to the tap water, you are fine. I do believe the story about well water, however. It's not treated. Our tap water is treated with low levels of chlorine (bleach!)

[LadyElle]

the dog "catching it" was purely a cooincidence. They cannot catch it from us.
In regards to the tap water, you are fine. I do believe the story about well water, however. It's not treated. Our tap water is treated with low levels of chlorine (bleach!)

Oh!! I apologize. It freaked me out, so my comment looked a bit immature. That does make me feel a lot better about that though. =)

[paulinek]

Oh!! I apologize. It freaked me out, so my comment looked a bit immature. That does make me feel a lot better about that though. =)

I'm sure your comment freaked a few other people out too.

[LadyElle]

Again I do apologize. That was truly not my intent at all. I've been scared from reading things on the net, and I realize that I should have thought more about it before posting or asked about that instead of making it so concrete. Again, I apologize, everyone.

[BenBHartnett]

the dog "catching it" was purely a cooincidence. They cannot catch it from us.
In regards to the tap water, you are fine. I do believe the story about well water, however. It's not treated. Our tap water is treated with low levels of chlorine (bleach!)

I agree! Dogs cannot catch it.