Paget's Disease of Bone and Previous Pet Ownership in the United States: Dogs Exonerated

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Abstract
Siris E S (Department of Medicine and the Irving Clinical Research Center, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA), Kelsey J L, Flaster E and Parker S. Paget's disease of bone and previous pet ownership in the United States: Dogs exonerated. International Journal of Epidemiology 1990, 19: 455–458 Paget's disease of bone is currently believed to be the result of a paramyxovirus infection of osteoclasts. Previously reported immunohistological data have suggested that a virus resembling either the measles virus or a respiratory syncitial virus is the probable causative agent, but no organism has been isolated or definitively identified to date. A recent study reporting an increased exposure to dogs during childhood and adolescence in a small series of cases from the North West of England proposed that a canine virus, possibly distemper, might be the primary infectious agent. To study this hypothesis further, we examined prior dog and cat ownership from childhood through adulthood in 433 cases of Paget's disease and an equal number of matched controls living in the US. We found no differences related to prior pet ownership. We conclude that past dog (or cat) ownership is not a risk factor for the development of Paget's disease.