Chlamydia. Gonorrhea. Syphilis. Herpes. HPV. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) can be an unfortunate consequence of unprotected sex, and humans carry plenty of them. But what about animals?
- Which animal has the most sex?
- From having sex on the moon to genitalia that can sing. here are 11 things you never knew about animal sex
There’s no such thing as ‘safe sex’ in the animal world, so do animals get STDs? Yes, they do, and plenty of them says Aoife Glass.
Do animals get STDs?
Sexually transmitted disease (STD), also known as sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are widespread in the animal world. From horses and rabbits to bottlenose dolphins, for as many animals that pair up for reproduction there are microorganisms like bacteria, viruses and parasites that will use this as an opportunity to spread and thrive.
Rabbits are known for their reproductive virility, so it’s hardly surprising that they have a veneral disease of their very own: treponematosis, also known as spirochaetosis, or rabbit syphilis as it’s sometimes called. Transmitted through sex, or from mother to child via the birth canal, the disease is caused by a type of bacteria called a spirochaete that can cause seeping or bleeding lesions on the nose, lips, eyelids or external genetalia. Delightful.
Dourine is an example of an animal STD that’s caused by a parasite: the Trypanosoma equiperdum flagellate protozoan, which infects members of the equid family, including horses, donkeys and zebras. Infected animals can suffer from lesions, stiffness, fever, swelling of udders or genetals, fluid discharge from genitals in females, and the disease is often fatal.
‘Lesions were observed inside the genital slit, on the skin adjacent to it, on the penis and on the vagina.’ This evocative description comes from the paper ‘Genital and lingual warts in small cetaceans from coastal Peru’, from the journal Disease of Aquatic Organisms. Yes, dophins get genital warts. As with humans, these warts are caused by papillomaviruses, and since the lesions are on the reproductive organs, scientists have concluded that they were spread through sexual contact.
Can humans get animal STDs?
Humans and animals aren’t really that different. After all, humans share 80% to 90% of DNA with cats, dogs and cattle, and 98% with Chimpanzees, and there’s a long history of humans picking up animal diseases, from smallpox to swine flu.
Zoonosis is the term for the process by which a disease spreads from animals to humans, and there are several zoonotic STDs - though they weren’t spread through sexual contact. Probably.
Two examples are gonorrhea and syphilis, which researchers believe moved to humans from cattle and sheep respectively, though hundreds if not thousands of years ago.
One of the deadliest recent examples of a zoonotic STD is HIV. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus, and genetic research indicates it is closely related to simian immunodeficienty viruses (SIVs), a suite of STDs that affect primates such as chimpanzees. It’s likely the species jump occurred in the late 19th or early 20th century, and transmission was due exposure to blood through the bushmeat trade.
Can animal STDs help humans?
While it might be hard to believe there is anything positive about animal STDs, in some cases researching how other animals cope with a disease or how they respond to treatment can help researchers develop new treatments for humans.
Koalas are the perfect example of this. These iconic, endangered Australia marsupials have a reputation for carrying chlamydia, and it can have a serious effect on them: cysts, inflammation, scarring of the reproductive organs, blindness, and pain when urinating. Koalas and humans aren’t the only animals susceptible to this STD: Chlamydia can infect pigs, sheep, goats, cats, reptiles, birds and even fish!
Chlamydia is caused by a type of bacteria, and in humans the treatment is antibiotics. But this treatment doesn’t offer long-lasting protection; much more effective would be a vaccine. For koalas antibiotics can cause as much harm as they help, disrupting the delicate microbial balance of their intestines which they need for breaking down their eucalyptus diet.
Researchers in Australia have been running trials with chlamydia vaccines, and initial results are promising with a 64% decrease in mortality. Since the type of chlamydia that infects koalas is very similar to the type which infects humans, it could mean that the koala vaccine takes researchers several steps closer to developing a vaccine for human chlamydia.
- The world's weirdest penises – including a detachable one that swims off after a mate
- Why do male animals produce so much sperm and females so few eggs?
- Which animal has the biggest testicles? The results might surprise you...
….
