Noted: Even if their pets show no signs of the illness, owners should always be careful. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine said last year that they were able to easily isolate Salmonella spp. from healthy-looking dogs and cats, making them classic carrier animals.
â??Dogs and cats may suffer salmonellosis as a â??reverse zoonosis,â?? with infection transmitted from human-to-dog and subsequently back to other humans,â? the researchers wrote. â??Similarly, outbreaks of salmonella infections in large animal teaching hospitals have been linked to the introduction of bacteria from infected human personnel, with subsequent spread to animals and then back to other human workers.â?