What problems exist in disease prevention for urban dog keeping?

Abstract: Currently, pets are developing rapidly in both urban and rural areas of China, especially the keeping of pet dogs in cities. In order to avoid and reduce the spread of canine diseases and zoonoses, this paper proposes standardizing the pet market, improving medical standards, and raising awareness and adopting countermeasures for rabies, canine distemper, and dog-human shared parasitic diseases.

Urban residents mostly treat dogs as pets, and even when a dog dies, they cannot bear to eat it or send it to a restaurant; this is the custom of people's love for pet dogs over thousands of years. According to historical records, as early as 10,000 years ago, Persians and Greeks began to domesticate dogs, and China also has a history of 6,000 years, but it has only truly become a trend in China in recent years. This is inseparable from social development and the improvement of people's living standards. At present, although the pets kept are mainly dogs, there are indeed still many people who like to keep cats, gamecocks, rabbits, birds, pigeons, goldfish and other animals, and the variety and number of pets being kept are on the rise.

1 There are many pet hospitals, but the technical level is generally low

With the increase in the number of pets, pet diseases have also increased accordingly, and it is very necessary to establish some pet hospitals in large and medium-sized cities. However, this work must be undertaken by veterinarians with certain professional skills. Pets are not the same as ordinary livestock and poultry, which merely satisfy people's material life needs; pets mainly satisfy people's spiritual life needs, and their value far exceeds that of ordinary economic animals such as livestock and poultry. Some people believe pets are priceless, and some regard pets, especially pet dogs, as one of the family members. Thus, the saying "beating the dog insults the owner" has long been popular, which is equivalent to viewing dogs as having the same status as people. Because pets are not the same as ordinary animals, people require special services for them similar to those for humans, such as regular vaccination, grooming, dedicated clothing, mattresses and other living and resting supplies. These relatively complete services are available in large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, and are just starting in small and medium-sized cities, but medical services are mostly provided by grassroots veterinarians who originally treated livestock and poultry, lack relevant knowledge, and need further training and improvement.

2 Rabies is fully recognized, while other diseases are ignored

2.1 Rabies phobia and countermeasures

When rabies is mentioned, almost everyone feels endangered, and awareness is relatively full. Anyone bitten by a dog (regardless of whether the biting dog has rabies) must receive emergency preventive injection, which shows that rabies has an important place in ordinary people's minds. Because rabies endangers people's lives, with an incubation period of up to 40 years and as short as only 4 days, it is an infectious disease shared by humans and dogs with a very high mortality rate. It is certainly frightening and should be taken seriously. However, getting an injection after being bitten is a relatively passive preventive measure, often costing more money, causing long-term lingering fear, worry that misfortune will befall them, and a heavy psychological burden; many people suffer from rabies phobia. In fact, as long as dogs are vaccinated against rabies on time, the probability of dogs contracting rabies can be reduced to a minimum. Even if bitten or scratched by a dog, timely local treatment is not so frightening, and the degree of worry can be reduced.

2.2 Attention should be paid to canine distemper

Among viral infectious diseases of dogs, canine distemper should bear the brunt. According to reports by Chen Pengfeng and Du Yimin (2000.6), in Shanghai in previous years the incidence of canine distemper reached 40%-50%, and currently it is no lower than 15%. However, people's awareness of this disease is far less than that of rabies, and it is often ignored. The reason is that this disease mainly infects dogs, does not infect humans, and does not belong to the category of zoonoses. But the incidence and mortality of this disease are now far higher than those of rabies, and it often presents with multiple symptoms, making diagnosis somewhat difficult and often misdiagnosed as other diseases. Fortunately, China already has multiple vaccines to prevent this disease and specialized therapeutic serum (developed by units such as Beijing Military Hospital and Xi'an Military Medical University). As long as vaccines and serum are used promptly, the expected results can be achieved. The problem is that the product price is relatively high and the dosage used is relatively large; ordinary pet dogs in small and medium-sized cities and rural areas are not willing to spend so much money on treatment and prevention, and it is only used for valuable dogs. In large cities and cities in developed areas, there is also a need for further publicity on the necessity of preventive injections to expand prevention coverage. At the same time, efforts should also be made to reduce the production cost and selling price of vaccines and serum so as to further promote them.

2.3 Awareness of dog-human shared parasitic diseases should be raised

Dog-human shared parasitic diseases are relatively common in China. Because this type of disease mostly involves chronic mutual infection and the mortality rate is not high, it has not attracted attention. However, in terms of the degree of harm to human and animal health and the mental unhappiness it causes people, it is no less than other infectious diseases. More than 200 kinds of zoonoses have been confirmed worldwide. More than 150 kinds of zoonotic parasitic diseases have been reported so far, and there are as many as 36 kinds that are relatively widespread in China and rather serious in harm (Guo Yuanhua et al., 1994.10). Among them are 9 kinds of trematode diseases, such as schistosomiasis, clonorchiasis, paragonimiasis, fasciolopsiasis, and fascioliasis; about 9 kinds of zoonoses caused by tapeworms, such as echinococcosis, sparganosis, and hymenolepiasis; 6 kinds of zoonoses caused by nematodes, such as ascariasis, hookworm disease, trichinosis, and larva migrans; about 7 kinds of zoonoses caused by arthropods, such as @#@261@#@ disease and pentastomiasis; about 4 kinds of zoonoses caused by protozoa, such as leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, and toxoplasmosis; and among zoonoses caused by acanthocephalans, Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus infection, etc. According to a recent report by Liu Jiaqing (May 2000), over the past 5 years, the infection rate of toxoplasmosis in Shanghai reached 23%-28%, the nematode infection rate reached 26%, and the ectoparasite infection rate reached 17%. In Shanghai, a relatively developed city in China, the parasitic infection rate is already so serious; presumably the parasitic infection rate in underdeveloped areas is even higher.

Among the above-mentioned zoonotic parasitic diseases, most can infect both dogs and humans, becoming dog-human shared diseases, and they show an upward trend. There are many factors causing zoonoses, and the causes are complex. People engaged in production and construction, contact between humans and animals, people's dietary habits and religious customs, and environmental pollution may all cause zoonoses. In particular, after dogs and cats become pets or companion animals, contact between humans and animals becomes more frequent, invisibly creating opportunities for zoonoses, which should be taken highly seriously. Especially in small and medium-sized cities and rural areas, where the environment is poorer, census and prevention work should be strengthened. Scientific research departments should intensify development because of the lack of specific effective drugs for some treatments, and should focus on research in parasitology within clinical veterinary medicine. At the same time, with reform and opening up, diseased dogs from abroad are entering the domestic market, so quarantine should be strengthened to prevent zoonoses from abroad from entering China.