I thought we were referring to passing on diseases to people. It’s birds that can give you tons of diseases.....I suppose if you get scratched or bitten by any animal, it can make you sick.
I seem to recall the statement that strays and feral animals carry diseases, plain and simple. They can carry diseases that can jump to humans, but wild and or feral animals have always been notorious for being vectors of transmission of disease to domesticated animals.
Examples in dogs include distemper and parvo, in cats feline aids and others, and the list goes on and on.
Mark