Can I get salmonella from handling a wild iguana or turtle?

Answer 1

Yes,, Positively so!

Many reptiles, but especially Turtles naturally carry Salmonella... In fact reptiles as pets are not Recommended for children under the age of 5 in part for this reason.. They tend to stuff hands in mouth more than older kids...

So YES you can...

However... think about it... Zoo keepers, Herpetologists, others with reptile pets etc.. are not coming down with Salmonella in Pandemic Numbers,..right??

Soooo Proper hand washing will t ake care of the risk,, or the ever so ready in your pocket hand sanitizers do a good job as well in a pinch,,,

But..having said this.. its often better to NOT handle a wild Iguana or Turtle... for other reasons other than the Salmonella.. and never grab either by its tail. Yes turtles have tails.

Best to watch them not handle if they are wild ones.. there are others nasty things a wild reptile can bring to the table as well.. sooooo

Good Luck

Wismom

Answer 2

It doesn't matter if reptiles are wild or kept as a pet, you can get salmonella no matter what. the best solution to this is to make sure you wash your hands thoroughly every time after handling them. 1 in like 100,000 people get salmonella. So it's not that serious. Just be cautious and aware.

Answer 3

In most cases, no. Salmonella in reptiles comes mostly from living in waste products. Wild-caught turtles are often caught in waste-treatment settling ponds, and captive reptiles (and other animals) often have to live with their own wastes.

While there is ALWAYS some risk, the risk is much smaller than the risk of getting from a wild animal than it is getting it from your own coins (yes- both paper money and coins can also carry Salmonella).

Answer 4

The reason that turtles under 4 inches cannott be legally sold is because children were putting them in their mouths and getting SALMONELLA! So this is true. But I dont know about iguanas.

Answer 5

A 6-week-old boy in Ohio was hospitalized with diarrhea, stiff neck, and fever. He was treated and released from the hospital after 56 days.

Vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and fever put a 3-week-old Pennsylvania girl in the hospital. She was treated with penicillin and discharged 11 days later.

A 5-month-old girl in New Jersey was hospitalized because of vomiting, lethargy and fever. She was treated and allowed to return home after 10 days.

Besides some of their symptoms, what did all three infants have in common? Each tested positive for Salmonella bacteria, and all had exposure to a reptile.

Approximately 3 percent of American households own an estimated 7.3 million reptiles, according to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council. Because the most popular species will not breed if closely confined, most reptiles are captured in the wild or hatched at reptile ranches and imported. The number of reptiles imported into the United States has increased dramatically from 27,806 in 1986 to 798,405 in 1993, as reported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the majority are iguanas.

But what many animal lovers don't know is that with these imported pets come exotic forms of Salmonella bacteria that can cause life-threatening illness in humans.

"Many parents do not know that owning an iguana puts their children at risk for Salmonella infection," say researchers from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Even in homes where young children and infants are not permitted to touch or come in contact with the animals, they may still become infected, according to a study published in the March 1997 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.

What Is Salmonella?
Salmonella is the genus name of a number of bacteria commonly associated with food poisoning from contaminated or undercooked foods, and salmonellosis is the disease the bacteria can cause. In food-related cases, most people suffer from gastroenteritis, often experiencing vomiting, fever, diarrhea, and cramps. For high-risk individuals, such as those with weakened immune systems, those taking antibiotics, pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 5, salmonellosis may be even more devastating, leading to blood infections, meningitis, abortion, and death.

In a case reported by the New York Health Department in 1995, a pregnant woman with fever and diarrhea went into preterm labor and delivered a baby who died 12 hours later. Follow-up blood samples of mother and child, in conjunction with samples from the family's pet iguana, tested positive for the Salmonella strain associated with reptiles.

Answer 6

YES YES YES. Plus, there are other microscopic bacteria that the iguana or turtle might have. anapsid.org has an article about Zoonoses (animal to human spreading diseases) HERE:
http://www.anapsid.org/mainzoonoses.html
so WASH YOUR HANDS! and make sure to change clothes if you're handling any food/other animals, since it can spread without you seeing any visible fluids. take care!

Answer 7

I already knew the answer to this one but I copied this from the CDC website. I had a couple of iguanas and snakes and always used anti-bacterial soap after handling them or cleaning their cages. I used rubber gloves to for cleaning too.

Can animals transmit salmonellosis to me?

Yes, many kinds of animals can pass salmonellosis to people. Usually, people get salmonellosis by eating contaminated food, such as chicken or eggs. However, animals can carry Salmonella and pass it in their feces (stool). Therefore, people can also get salmonellosis if they do not wash their hands after touching the feces of animals. Reptiles (lizards, snakes, and turtles), baby chicks, and ducklings are especially likely to pass salmonellosis to people. Dogs, cats, birds (including pet birds), horses, and farm animals can also pass Salmonella in their feces.

Answer 8

ooh ohooh ohh will definely not? why i said so is because salmonella is only found in fresh chicken only wild iguana or turtle doesn't have salmonell dont be afraid. stay cool bro

Answer 9

you can get salmonella from handling ANY reptile, wild or from pet store or breeder.....you must wash your hands before and after handling any reptile, it doesnt happen very often, but the risk, although small is there.

Answer 10

absolutely!! always wash hands and fingernails thoroughly with warm water and soap after handling any iguana or turtle...not just wild ones!!!!