CAPE BRETON POST (Sydney, Nova Scotia) 20 May 05 The perils of owning a pet (Chris Zdeb)
Edmonton (CNS): Baby Jeanessa Gouda is infected with a salmonella bacteria she got three months ago from an iguana she has never seen.
Her mom Rita couldn’t figure where the then six-month-old could have got the illness until she remembered seeing a large lizard roaming freely in a room of the house she eventually rented. Gouda moved in two days after the previous tenants and their leathery pet moved out and suspects there may not have been time for the rug to be cleaned.
Reptiles such as iguanas and snakes can get salmonella on their skin, which can then contaminate their cages or terrariums or, in this case, the rug in the iguana’s old room.
But even after shampooing the rug herself after Jeanessa’s diagnosis, Gouda says the baby’s stools continue to test positive for salmonella, preventing her from returning to day care until it clears up. The baby is currently being cared for at home by a nanny. The landlord has said he will rip out the rug in the old iguana room.
The family had been in the house for about a week when the baby developed a severe case of diarrhea followed by a fever, vomiting and lethargy. She also wouldn’t eat, prompting Gouda to take her to the hospital. Jeanessa was initially diagnosed with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), a viral disease of the lungs that she’d had last December. She was hospitalized for two weeks during which time stool tests found she actually had salmonella. Capital Health investigators narrowed the cause to the iguana.
North American children have been getting sick from pets for years, says Nelson Fok, associate director of environmental health for Capital Health in Edmonton. He says he thinks it’s because kids play with pets more than adults and those under 10 may not have a fully developed immune system to protect them from infection.
The most common pet source of salmonella today is exotic reptiles such as iguanas and snakes that cause a dozen or more cases in children in the region each year.
In the ’70s, it was turtles under four inches in length that caused frequent outbreaks of salmonella, leading to an importation ban in Canada and the U.S., Fok says. A few years ago there were cases of children getting salmonella from pet hedgehogs, which were all the rage.
But virtually any pet from puppies and kittens to “pocket pets” such as hamsters and mice can make kids sick.
The latter were not thought to pose a threat, until a dangerous multidrug-resistant salmonella bacteria was found to have sickened up to 30 people in 10 U.S. states including Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and New Jersey. Many victims were children, six of which were hospitalized for vomiting, fever and severe diarrhea. Some kids passed the salmonella on to others.
Fok says there is no sign of that bacteria here, but depending on how the infected animals were distributed and if they are similarly distributed in Canada, it could simply be a matter of time.
Last fall, Health Canada issued a warning after a shipment of dwarf hamsters bred in Manitoba tested positive for type B tularemia, a treatable infection different than salmonella, but which can also be transmitted to humans. Symptoms include skin ulcers, swollen lymph glands, inflamed eyes, sore throat, diarrhea or pneumonia.
All of the infected hamsters died, but other small mammals such as chinchillas, guinea pigs and gerbils were included in the shipment and sold to pet stores in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Ontario.
The closer children get to an animal with a bacteria they can usually catch from contact with the animal’s feces, the greater the chance of them getting infected, Fok says.
“People like their pets and they want their children to enjoy the pets. We’ve had cases where people let their iguana run around on a kitchen counter or let the iguana bathe with the kids and then parents wonder why they get sick,” he says. “Whether you have a hamster, an iguana or a little puppy or kitten the rules are pretty much the same.”
• Children under age five should be supervised when playing with a pet.
• Anyone with a compromised immune system including people who’ve had transplants or chemotherapy should avoid pets because of the risk of infection.
• Pets should be kept in an area that can be easily cleaned, which is difficult to do with carpet, Fok says.
• Keep pets away from the kitchen and other areas where food is being prepared.
• Don't eat or put your fingers in your mouth while handling pets.
• Don't clean cages in the kitchen sink or other areas where food may be prepared.
• Don't kiss your pet or hold them close to your mouth. Many people do, Fok acknowledges, but people should remember where those mouths have been — cleaning private parts or, in the case of dogs — eating not so sanitary things.
• Wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling a pet.
The perils of owning a pet