Differences Between Ringworm in Human and Ringworm in Pets

Copyright (c) 2008 Patnaree Sukgrarongka

Ringworm is a kind of fungal skin disease, which could be seen when there is a form of the circle red rings and spread out rapidly on the surface of the skin. General characteristics of ringworm is when human or pets are infected, they will also have symptom of itchy on the infected area and found hair loss in many cases.

Ringworm will be quickly and easily transmitted by skin-to-skin contacts, which means if the person touches on the infected are of patient's skin. People who have eczema or any other skin problems are more prone to the occurrence of infection on the skin. This fungal infection is not limited to human but also seen in other kind of pets, particularly for cats and dogs.

Ringworm in human
Dermatophytes grow on dead tissues of human skin following a circular path to widen its infection. The mold also infects to fingers, feet, scalp, toenails and skin. Unfortunate, if the ringworm is not treat properly, the spread of ringworm will be very quick and could become persistent. The symptoms are normally seen as dryness, itching, flaky rashes or burning marks on the skin, depends on the characteristic of the patient. Moisture and heat promote the fungus grows rapidly, especially to the skin-fold areas like in between toes and in groin. It can also be transmitted through sharing swimming pools, showers and also transmitted through domestic animals. It is advised that maintain personal cleanliness of the body can reduce the chances of fungus disease to the body. But if once it develops in any part of the body, it can be cured through doctor's prescription of medicines.

Ringworm in cats
In most cases, it is quite obvious that a fungus namely "Microsporum Canis" or commonly known as "M Canis" is the majority cause the infection. Cats catch up the disease from unhygienic stuffs like bedding, clippers or from direct contacts with other infected animals. Kittens are more prone to ringworm than grown cats, so proper care should be taken if you have any young-breed cats in your home. The common symptoms that can be seen in the infected cats are excessive hair loss from head or paws, scaly patch of skin on any part of body which looks itchy and inflamed due to loss of hair on that part.

Ringworm in dogs
There are around 35 species of ringworm which cause infection in dogs and these species are the ones that can also be seen in cats. In many cases we also find that the infection occurs among the young breeding dogs too, because young pets are more vulnerable than grown-up ones. One of the most common symptoms which represent the infection is the development of lesion on many parts of dog's skin. The growing of circular scaly patch of broken hair on the skin surface which seems to appear inflamed and has flakes of dandruff like particles on the skin of the infected dog. This also including face, tail, paws and ear tips are the common areas.