Whatever floats your boat, I guess

@Elessar Does that happen with leeches? 😦

@CrazyMusicLover You can contract life threatening bacteria from a simple cut with an inanimate and visibly clear object, let alone an animal whose natural habitat is filthy water, so yes, definitely.

[quote]Leeches are carriers of viruses and bacteria. HIV and Hepatitis B were isolated from live leeches pulled from fishermen in Africa. Viruses may remain in leeches for as long as 5 months. Studies have also shown that malaria is capable of replicating in the red blood cells that a leech ingests. Leeches carrying infectious diseases have also been found in medicinal leeches with reports of 2.4% to 20% infection rate during medicinal leech therapy. The majority of these infections were caused by Aeromonas hydrophila which can be treated with fluoroquinolones, although resistant strains exist.It may be reasonable, after weighing risks and benefits, to offer the patient antibiotics after a leech bite[/quote]
Sauce: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK518971/