Pet Turtles Can Pass on Salmonella
Despite ban on sale, kids still find creatures at flea markets

(HealthDay News) -- Although salmonella bacteria are generally associated with food-borne illness, the vomit-inducing bacteria can come from an unlikely source as well: small pet turtles.

Reptiles and amphibians, including turtles, are responsible for about 11 percent of salmonella cases in people under 21. And the consequences can be devastating. A 3-week-old Florida infant died from salmonella poisoning contracted from a small turtle given to the family by a friend who had purchased the turtle at a flea market.

"Salmonella can cause severe illness in children," Mark Sotir, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told HealthDay . "Prohibiting the sale of these turtles is really the most effective way of preventing these illnesses."

In fact, the sale of small turtles has been banned in the United States since 1975. But, small turtles -- defined as those with shells less than 4 inches long -- are still finding their way into homes, where they "can be handled like toys by small children," Sotir said. Most often, experts say, they're bought at flea markets.

Still, the law has had an effect. Cases of turtle-related salmonella poisoning fell by about 100,000 in the year immediately after the ban was enacted, he said.

Infection with salmonella can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Illness begins about 12 to 36 hours after exposure and usually lasts about two to seven days. Although most people recover, as many as 15,000 people are hospitalized because of salmonella each year, and 400 people die every year in the United States from salmonella infections.

Sotir's report, which appeared in the CDC's journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report , found that 19 other people became sick from the same strain of salmonella as the infant who died.

Infections occurred in Alabama , Arizona , California , Florida , Massachusetts , Nevada , New Mexico , New York , Pennsylvania , South Carolina and Texas , according to the report.

All turtles, no matter what size, should be handled as if they are infected, the CDC advises.

"Reptiles and amphibians should be kept out of households with children less than 5 years of age," Sotir cautioned. "All persons who handle reptiles and amphibians should use hand washing and other hygiene techniques to keep clean after handling them."

Dr. Pascal James Imperato, chairman of preventive medicine and community health at the State University of New York's Downstate Medical Center in New York City , told HealthDay that a salmonella problem from turtles is not a new phenomenon.

"Children have a propensity to put their fingers in their mouth, and so salmonella is rather easily transmitted," Imperato said. "Moreover, turtles are kept in water that is contaminated, and the children touch the water and become infected. These are really not pets that young children should have."

On the Web

To learn ore about pet turtles, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Mark Sotir, Ph.D., epidemiologist, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta; Pascal James Imperato, M.D., distinguished service professor and chairman, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, and director, Master of Public Health Program, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, New York City; July 6, 2007, CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report ; U.S Food and Drug Administration (www.fda.gov)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: June 30, 2008
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