What is ringworm and what are the symptoms?
Ringworm, or dermatomycosis, is an infection of the skin, hair or nails by a fungus. Its an important disease because it can be transmitted to humans from animals. The most typical symptom in humans is a scaly area surrounded by a red ring of inflamed tissue. It was once thought that this round ring was a worm curled beneath the skin surface thus the misnomer ringworm. Although this red ring is a typical symptom for people, the symptoms can range from a small, scaly area to a blistered, infected lesion, depending on what species of fungus has infected them. In dogs and cats, the symptoms can include hair loss, broken hairs, scaly skin, itchiness and sometimes redness at the outside edge of the infected area. If the nails are infected, they will become roughened and pitted. Sometimes the animal wont have outward symptoms of the disease at all (this is more common in cats.) How is ringworm transmitted? The most common way for an animal or person to get ringworm is through contact with an
