Pediatrics - about health Pet Turtles and Salmonella
When kids have diarrhea, pediatricians often ask their parents if they have pets at home. Specifically, they may ask if they have reptiles, like pet turtles.
Why?
Turtles and other reptiles can be sources of Salmonella
bacteria, especially in infants and younger children. In fact, at least
371 people, including 62 who required hospitalization, have gotten sick
after exposure to pet turtles in 41 states in an ongoing Salmonella outbreak since August 2011.
The death in 2007 of a four-week old baby that was traced to Salmonella from a pet turtle also highlights the health risks of having a turtle in their home.
While many parents are aware that you can get Salmonella from chicken, eggs, and, recently, from contaminated peanut butter, they sometimes overlook the risk from pet turtles.
What You Need To Know
- Other reptiles besides turtles, including lizards and snakes, can also carry Salmonella, as can amphibians, such as frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders.
- Children under age five, and children with immune system problems, are most at risk for Salmonella infections, so you shouldn't have a reptile or amphibian in your home if you have a newborn, infant, toddler, or preschool age child at home.
- If you do have a pet turtle at home, don't let it roam around freely, which can contaminate all of the surfaces it walks on, walk around your kitchen, or anywhere you prepare food.
- Don't wash your turtle's water dish or aquarium in your kitchen sink or bathtub, since you might contaminate them with Salmonella if you do.
- Turtles with Salmonella aren't themselves sick and don't have any symptoms.
- The sale of baby turtles has been banned in the United States since 1975, but they are increasingly being sold again in recent years.
- Several reports have documented that free-living turtles do not seem to be carriers of Salmonella, but that is likely because they are living in the wild. If you make a wild turtle a pet and keep it in an aquarium in your home, it may become contaminated with Salmonella too. Kids should wash their hands after handling wild turtles, even if they may not have Salmonella.
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Pet chickens and ducks causing outbreaks of Salmonella
Live poultry, such as chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys, often carry harmful germs called Salmonella. After you touch a bird, or anything in the area where they live and roam, wash your hands so you don't get sick!
An
increasing number of people around the country are choosing to keep
live poultry, such as chickens or ducks, as part of a greener, healthier
lifestyle. While you enjoy the benefits of backyard chickens and other
poultry, it is important to consider the risk of illness, especially for
children, which can result from handling live poultry or anything in
the area where they live and roam.
CDC is collaborating with public health, veterinary, and agriculture
officials in many states and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) to investigate
four multistate outbreaks of human Salmonella infections linked to contact with live poultry.
In the four outbreaks, a total of 181 people infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella
have been reported from 40 states as of June 29, 2015. The number of
ill people identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (17), Arizona
(3), Arkansas (4), California (3), Colorado (2), Delaware (2), Georgia
(4), Indiana (3), Iowa (1), Kentucky (4), Louisiana (2), Maine (2),
Maryland (4), Massachusetts (1), Michigan (3), Minnesota (6),
Mississippi (13), Missouri (1), Montana (3), Nevada (2), New Hampshire
(1), New Jersey (3), New Mexico (2), New York (6), North Carolina (3),
Ohio (15), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (5), Pennsylvania (12), South Carolina
(10), South Dakota (2), Tennessee (6), Texas (5), Utah (4), Vermont (2),
Virginia (11), Washington (6), West Virginia (2), Wisconsin (1), and
Wyoming (4).
I do a little farming. I try my best to keep the food safe. Ironically, too clean is no good. I researched online this morning and found out that cleaning the shells of eggs removes bacteria, but it it also removes protective material that prevents bacteria from penetrating the shell.
ReplyDeleteSalmonella is part of our world. Consider this:
8,000 Pounds of Cashew Split Recalled for Potential Salmonella Contamination
BY NEWS DESK | JULY 10, 2015
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2015/07/8000-pounds-of-cashew-split-recalled-for-potential-salmonella-contamination/#.VaO1oTK9KK0
Since our forefathers were shepherds and farmers, are there any discussions of animal diseases at all in the commentaries or Gemara?
ReplyDeletethat is very interesting - but the Torah, as far as i can see, also provides some other frameworks. The key figures are given an age when they die (at least in the Humash), whereas we don't always know how old the Kings were when they died.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the Am, the regular people who are farmers, are not really given much coverage. But disease is linked to sin. This is in the Blessings and Curses. Even when King David made errors in counting the people, it led to a plague.
I don't know how this answers the question, but even in the galus, we are threatened by disease as an outcome of our sins.
Disease being linked to sin is a common thread in ancient times and throughout history to our day. Take the sin of greed. Maintaining high standards of food production requires vigilance and and a continuous investment of time and effort. It's easy to become lax and begin cutting corners to increase the bottom line. And once a person sins in this way, it can become habitual till the point where they find their sinful behavior acceptable and they become almost oblivious to their own wrongdoing.
ReplyDeleteWhat we do in our inner chambers truly defines us. When no one of flesh and blood is around, do I have enough Fear of G-d to do the right thing? For this reason, farming has been a test for me of my level of Yiras Shamayim.
It hurts, but sometimes I'll discard milk because it got slightly contaminated. I try to err on the side of caution without transgressing the prohibition of destroying without cause.
It hurts, but it's the kind of pain that comes with healthy exercise. Hopefully I'm strengthening my resolve to do the right thing, and in the merit of this, those that I share the milk with will be be protected from disease.