Watch out! It may not be such a good idea to get your child a pet turtle. Sure they look cute , and they're relatively low maintenance; but they carry infections and children are particularly susceptible.The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is advising parents against getting turtles as pets and warned that children can easily become infected with the infections turtles can carry on their teeny-tiny shells.
In a report, the CDC said that there have been outbreaks of Salmonella in 15 states between 2006 and 2014. In the meantime, just this May, the CDC released a report stating how turtles have caused a record number of 921 illnesses, causing 156 cases of hospitalization, and the death of one infant.
Between January 16, 2015 and April 8 this year, a total of 133 people were infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella. The cases were spread out among 26 states. Among these cases, 38 people were taken ill and had to be hospitalized; 41 percent of those who were ill were children aged five and younger.
Before getting their children any pets, parents should first take into serious consideration that even the smallest animals can carry diseases. Cats and kittens are carriers of toxoplasmosis, rabies, cat scratch disease, salmonella, campylobacter, giardia and cryptosporidium, roundworm and ringworm.
Small children should not be allowed to play with cats unsupervised, and the cats themselves should be taken for checkups to the vet to ensure that they are disease free.
As for turtles, it turns out that that since 1975, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the sale and distribution of turtles with a shell length of less than 4 inches in size as pets because they carry Salmonella. Even healthy turtles can become carriers, and they carry the infection in their intestines. When they poop, the infection spread to the outside of their bodies, infecting those who touch them then neglect to wash their hands thoroughly afterwards. Salmonella can cause nausea, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
