[Gpdd] Health: Salmonella "outbreak" stemming from pet rodents

[Cuttlefish Arts]

Every so often, there is an "outbreak of salmonella".  It's usually
associated with an animal or animal product.  Salmonella is pretty much
always with us in raw chicken (which is why a rare-cooked chicken isn't
considered a good idea anywhere), spoiled food, occasionally in raw eggs,
and many animals. A few years ago, some kids got salmonella from touching a
monitor lizard at the zoo here. Everyone went ballistic. I called into a
talk radio show at the time and reminded the host that almost all reptiles
can and often do carry Salmonella. He hadn't a clue. We have owned reptiles
for 20 years. We've never been sick. How can this be?

Salmonella is always with us. What to do about it? WASH YOUR HANDS WHENEVER
YOU TOUCH ANYTHING THAT COULD CARRY SALMONELLA, especially before you eat or
touch your mouth. Do you know why they don't sell those really small turtles
anymore at pet stores? because people bought them for their small children
and kids would put them in their MOUTHS. Bam! Salmonella. So, because it's
pretty impossible to keep kids from putting things in their mouths, there's
now a minimum size that a turtle has to reach before you can sell them. I
understand that the small rodents that were associated with this story had
been given prophylactic antibiotics to keep them from getting sick, which
made the bacteria even stronger. What a bad idea! Typical of the
agribusiness/pet store world, though.


N.B., Guinea pigs are unlikely to carry Salmonella; Mice, Hamsters, etc. all
eat animal products and it's more likely to spread in that way. G.P.s are
actually more delicate than we are, in terms of resistance to bacteria and
bugs, and I think it's more likely we'd infect them with dirty hands than
they would us.

Vic