Certain tapeworms are spread in house mouse droppings, and ringworm, a skin fungus, can be carried to humans by mice or contracted indirectly from mice through cats. Which two diseases are described here?

• A. Ray fungus and ringworm
• B. Dermatitis
• C. Meningitis
• D. Plague

Answer: (A)

Rodents can carry both parasites and fungi that affect humans. In this case, one disease comes from tapeworms that can be spread via mouse droppings, meaning people can pick up tapeworm eggs by ingesting material contaminated with those droppings. The other is ringworm, a skin fungus that can be carried by mice or spread indirectly from mice to cats that have interacted with infected mice, and then to people. Some older terminology refers to ringworm-under the umbrella of “ray fungus,” so the pairing that matches both described diseases is ray fungus and ringworm. This reflects recognizing both a rodent-borne parasite infection and a fungal skin infection that can be linked to mice.