Wait! A majority of salmonella infections come from food contamination. You probably also already know that reptiles and amphibians can carry this contamination, but chicks, ducklings, and kittens? Kittens and other cute, small, furry little critters - like hamsters, gerbils and mice are now joining the list of contaminants. Who could have known that such adorable little creatures could make someone so sick?
Actually, I could have guessed that mice carried Salmonella, because snakes eat mice. Maybe snakes were getting the illness from the mice. After all, they are in the food chain. Kittens are getting it from the mice, if they've eaten one - or their momma's eaten one. If mice carry this illness, then other rodents can be connected to it too. This is not just a theory, it is actually true.
There was no real connection known between hamsters and Salmonella until an outbreak in August of 2004. A veteranarian for a Minnesota pet distributor notified the Minesota Department of Health when it was discovered that 2 hamsters from a shipment of 780 had tested positive, and the others were dying in large quantities. Little did the veteranarian know that 243 of the hamsters were already distributed to 15 retail pet stores in 4 states. (It sounds a little like the story behind the movie "Outbreak," with the monkey. One deceivingly cute little monkey is shipped from overseas, coming over to the United States to infect throngs of people with the Bubonic plague).
These rodents, in turn, infected many humans. Of twenty-two infected patients and parents interviewed, 59% had contact with rodents purchased from retail pet stores. Two became infected through contact with a primary patient. In June of 2004, a 4-year-old from South Carolina was hospitalized for 5 days. Nine days earlier, the family had purchased a hamster from a pet store, and that hamster died 2 days later. In August of 2004, a 5-year-old in Minnesota got sick four days after his family bought a mouse - which died 1 week after it was purchased. A 23-year-old pregnant woman in Missouri became ill after purchasing live rats and mice to feed to her Python. (First of all, what is she doing handling snakes during a pregnancy? She must not have known about reptiels carrying this illness). Her baby was born prematurely, and was in intensive care for 56 days before being sent home.
What's even worse than finding out that these seemingly innocent furry critters carry Salmonella is that it has been found that they are now carrying a strain that is resistant to several drugs. This is due to pet stores and veteranarians abusing the antibiotics, to the point that the illness has gotten used to them. (Just like when we take antibiotics for every ache and pain, instead of trying to let something run its normal course first).
So what can we do to keep these things from happening? First of all, if we have a pet such as these in our house, and it becomes sick, we need to quarantine it. Duh!Also, NO CHILDREN UNDER 5 should have these any of these types of pets anywhere near them. Nor should such children be allowed to handle these little critters. They may go to a zoo to see them, but they can't be anywhere near the animal where they can touch them. If that's so, then no child that is over the age of 5 should be able to have these animals as pets if they have siblings under the age of 5. We all need to wash our hands well after handling these animals. No one should ever kiss any of these animals. (Hello, kiss an animal carrying Salmonella? Why don't you just stick a petri dish with the strain in my face? Come on!) This is one reason why children under 5 should not be near these animals. They don't understand Salmonella. Many probably think it's the name of a duck in children's story, or a type of fish (it does sound like salmon). They draw to these cute little furry creatures like a magnet. I know mine do. However cruel it might sound, what's crueler: keeping the child and animal apart, or having your child come down with this illness?