# Animals transmitting VD's **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 30, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275 "2012-03-30T14:30:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![auntmag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac8455/32.png) [@auntmag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntmag)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/1 "2012-03-30T14:30:13Z")
[COLOR=“DarkGreen”][/COLOR] Back in the 50’s, dairy farms were well known for their owners contracting syphillis. It came as quite a surprise to the family when grandma was entering a nursing home and her medical history incuded “Syphllis”!! She and grandpa had worked many years on dairy farms. The nurse told us that was quite common for people that age to have contracted it from the cows. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/2 "2012-03-30T14:41:44Z")
But Bessie looked so innocent-the slut! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/3 "2012-03-30T14:47:20Z")
So those at home can follow along, [here is a link to the column in question.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/733/can-animals-get-vd) ---
**Author:** ![kmhepler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e495f1/32.png) [@kmhepler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kmhepler)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/4 "2012-03-30T15:16:49Z")
Actually what took place with the dairy farmers is that they had been exposed to other organisms (spirochetes) which caused diseases in cattle but not in humans. This exposure would cause said farmers to test positive in the early and less-specific tests for syphilis. Google “yaws” for more. Sexual transmitted illnesses (STI, now the preferred term over VD) are so common among domestic animals that anyone who is even mildly serious about breeding their dogs, cats, horses, whatever-- will require lab certificates from potential mates before proceeding. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/5 "2012-03-30T15:28:43Z")
And sexually transmitted diseases are being discovered in wild animals now. Both sea lions and dolphins have been found containing everything from warts to tumors related to viral infections (species-specific herpes). Not to mention that primates also have their own versions of herpes (at least one which is lethal to humans). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Fantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Mr.Fantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Fantastic)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/6 "2012-04-02T15:12:30Z")
When I was in 8th grade, our Science class teacher informed us that syphilis is commonly carried by (domestic) sheep and in fact is “a sheep disease”. He continued by stating, “We won’t go into how it became a human disease.” Since then, I have heard similar stories saying syphilis comes from sheep. Is any of this true or have I simply been duped by paranoid Science teachers who want to keep teenagers from having sex…? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/7 "2012-04-02T15:22:00Z")
> [@Mr.Fantastic](#): > > When I was in 8th grade, our Science class teacher informed us that syphilis is commonly carried by (domestic) sheep and in fact is “a sheep disease”. He continued by stating, “We won’t go into how it became a human disease.” Since then, I have heard similar stories saying syphilis comes from sheep. > > Is any of this true or have I simply been duped by paranoid Science teachers who want to keep teenagers from having sex…? Only one way to find out… ETA: my vet’s office has several spay and neuter posters in the exam rooms. One of the points they make in favor of the procedure is that it cuts down on the incidence of dog VD. My puggle got some funny looks after I read that one. ---
**Author:** ![arley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@arley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arley)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/8 "2012-04-02T19:07:24Z")
Cecil’s original answer is dated 1990, and since that time some things have occurred. Down under, those cute little koala bears are having problems because of chlamydia. Some authorities even believe it may cause the animal’s extinction in the wild. (It’s not the same variety of chlamydia which affects humans, so get your filthy minds out of the gutter.) It can be spread while mating, fighting and other incidental contact. It affects the urogenital tract and can cause infertility. Another weird thing happening down under, while not a sexually transmitted disease, is the outbreak of facial tumors in Tasmanian Devils. Apparently this is a transmittable cancer (which is extremely rare in and of itself) spread by biting, which occurs when fighting over food. The males also fight over females, so plausibly some of these cases are transmitted during mating fights–although that wouldn’t meet most people’s criteria for an STD. ---
**Author:** ![gjdodger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ee59a6/32.png) [@gjdodger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gjdodger)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/9 "2012-04-02T19:51:43Z")
VD associated with farm animals is spread by their wild counterparts. Brucellosis has been eradicated from the domestic cattle herd but is found in the bison herd around Yellowstone Park; similarly with pseudorabies in swine, it’s spread by feral swine. ---
**Author:** ![Skeptik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Skeptik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeptik)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animals-transmitting-vds/617275/10 "2012-04-05T04:42:40Z")
We know a great deal about human diseases. We know a lot about disease affecting domestic animals We know little bits about disease affecting wild animals, mostly about the cute ones we lock up in zoos. We know virtually nothing about diseases affecting the 99.99% of other species. So it’s not too suprising that our knowledge about animal STIs also follows this general pattern.