Can you pick up worms from horses?

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brightmount

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Just curious! I have started doing worm counts on my horses in the past year and am quite surprised how a horse can go from zero to moderate infestation quite quickly even when wormed 4 times a year and looking perfectly fit and well. The worm counts have given me a wake up call that even the best cared for horses do pick up worms from the environment.

So I just wondered if anyone has ever picked up worms from their horse ... and how you would even know....?

Sorry for the gross subject!
 
Horses have horse worms, humans have humans worms, cows have cows worms etc etc, they do not mix.

This is why it is a good idea to swap fields with other herbivores, it breaks the worm life cycle.
 
That's reassuring. It didn't help that the farmer told me he once had a tapeworm... though I didn't press for further information at that point!

So is it an old wives tale then? .. because the old wives must have had a good PR agent in my neck of the woods in that case!
 
Worms are not picky as to who their host is so I am sorry but yes you can pick them up.

Wormers only kill the worms that are in the gut at the time of worming, then the gut is ready to be reinfested till you next worm.

Plus worms do not stay in the gut they migrate through the gut wall & travel through the blood stream to other organs. This is how they cause the damage migrating through the body.
So it is easy for there to be a low count & then suddenly a high one & back down again.
Though it does come down to the bodies immunity levels I feel. When high the gut is inhospitable for the worms & so just pass through the gut. When they are below parr that is when they take up residence!
 
We were taught at Uni that worms are species specific. All species can have thread worms etc but within that they are species specific. That is why it is best to graze your horse pasture with cattle or sheep occasionally as they will ingest the worm eggs but are impervious to them, hence reducing the burden and breaking the cycle.
 
Strongyloides stercoralis is a small nematode that infects the intestine of dogs and primates (including humans).
 
My farrier told me that he worms himself 4 times a year as he can easily pick up worms if he puts a dirty finger in his mouth!!!
 
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We were taught at Uni that worms are species specific. All species can have thread worms etc but within that they are species specific. That is why it is best to graze your horse pasture with cattle or sheep occasionally as they will ingest the worm eggs but are impervious to them, hence reducing the burden and breaking the cycle.

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Sack your lecturer! That info is outdated. Horses can share certain species with both sheep and cattle.
Harrowing is an old wives tale too. It doesnt get hot or cold enough in the UK for long enough to kill larvae. harrowing just spreads the larvae around the field.
 
the likelyhood of you picking up worms from your horse is very unlikely!!!
its not impossible!
There are worms as stated which can infected between ruminants, few between ruminants and horses etc.......
But its great that you are keeping an eye on your worm count etc so that will reduce everything dramatically!

but as I said the likelyhood of you catching something is minimal!
 
It does depend on thw worm - yes thay re species specific, but cestodes (tapeworm) do need an intermediate host - so the farmer mentioned above could have got a tapeworm from eating a cyst on some undercooked beef/lamb. But picking up horse worms I have never heard of...
 
cysticercosis is the one you mean where humans can pick up the cyst stage from eating undercooked pork and develop the worm stage. This is largely why human excrement is now no longer spread on fields. (Human host sheds eggs). As you say, this has two hosts with one being the intermediate one. I have googled this again and apart from a few which we already knew about, intestinal parasites are species specific and each gut environment would vary greatly and be inhospitable to worms from different species.
 
"and how you would even know....?"

says very quietly...


you'd have an itchy bottom,




and a smelly finger...


Ha ha ha, sorry
grin.gif
 
Most parasites are species specific, although some can affect more than one, but that's more unusual, for example horses can catch liver fluke from sheep (I use 'catch' loosely).
I have yet to hear of any equine worm which can affect a human being though.
S
grin.gif
 
My husband once gave me two dog worming tablets when I'd asked him to get me a couple of paracetamols. Didn't have any side affects but did end up divorcing him lol.
 
The farmer at my yard told me off for kissing Rosie yesterday! "You're get worms doing that!" he shouted! It's been playing on my mind all day! But I can't see how a quick kiss on the nose means I'm probably worm invested!!!!
 
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Horses have horse worms, humans have humans worms, cows have cows worms etc etc, they do not mix.



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That is not factual at all.



Tapeworms are one worm that can be found in many animals....including humans
 
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