Raccoons may carry the diseases which can get spread to Saint Petersburg humans and pets like roundworm, leptospirosis and rabies.

Raccoon roundworm

Raccoon roundworm is the intestinal infection of humans and other various Florida animals. Raccoons make community latrines — places where they deposit repeated feces which is much likely to have eggs of roundworms. After deposition in environment, eggs get develop into infection within 2 to 4 weeks and may survive the soil for few years. If such infectious eggs accidentally get swallowed by the humans, their larvae get hatched out of these eggs and can move inside body organs resulting in serious disease. The infections show the symptoms in humans depending on amount of eggs ingested in body and where they have gone like in eye, brain, liver or kidneys. The symptoms like tiredness, loss of muscular control, coma, blindness and lack of coordination may occur.

Leptospirosis

It is diseases which is caused due to bacteria named as Leptospira that is carried by urine of Florida raccoons and rats. The disease can occur in various wild animals and humans including dogs. Animals and humans can get infection as soil or water gets contaminated by urine of the infected animal which gets onto the skin, eyes, throat, nose or mouth or is get swallowed. Dogs have higher risks of getting infection as they usually lick or drink water from the ground which can be contaminated; the infected dogs can get severely ill and even die.

Rabies

Raccoons are highly reported Saint Petersburg animals to have rabies in the America, particularly in southeastern and eastern parts. Although no reports of rabies are known in the Washington state due to raccoons, but you cannot be sure that the rabies can' t be there in the raccoons or may not happen in future.