DEAR NOREEN: I don’t know if this lies within your area of expertise, but I have been wondering: can Humans make Animals sick?
For almost a year, I have been participating in The Park’s Adopt-A-Human project, which I feel is a worthwhile activity. Over the last few weeks, however, I have begun to feel lethargic, I am sometimes feverish, and I have experienced a generalized feeling of unwellness.
My friends tell me that I should see Dr. Bourru and some have even suggested that it is my adopted Human who has made me sick! I don’t know what to think. Can you help me?
— CONCERNED
DEAR CONCERNED: Not to make light of your question, which is of legitimate concern, but there are those among us who think, quite frankly, that Humans are making us all sick! Anyone who reads this newspaper regularly, of course, knows what my opinion is of Humans: they’re lovely to look at, but I wouldn’t want to live with one!
Setting all that aside, however, my medical experts tell me that Humans can, indeed, infect Animals with a number of diseases that, in the past, they kept to themselves. These days, though, with the mixing of species (not a bad thing, mind), it is not unheard of for Animals to catch things from Humans.
If I were you, I’d take myself off to Dr. Bourru posthaste and let him make the final diagnosis. Whatever disease your Human companion may have given you, it is highly treatable, they tell me, and it will not affect you permanently — which is more than I can say for Human opinions. Buona fortuna!
Dear Noreen is a regular feature of The Mammalian Daily and The Mammalian Daily online. If you have a question for Noreen, please send it via Twitter at @talkswithnoreen.
