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Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by tigers9 on March 27, 2008
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Seems like they don’t know for sure though, but news reports it in headline as if it was a sure thing
Z
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/7316684.stm
Baby gets salmonella from snake
A three-month-old baby contracted salmonella from her family's pet snake.
It took four days before Amanda Vry's daughter, Gabriella, was diagnosed with the potentially fatal bacteria and she said she feared she may lose her.
She found out from research on the internet it can be contracted from reptiles and is now looking for a new home for Reg, a Colombian Rainbow Boa.
Ms Vry, from Birmingham, said she thinks her son may have touched Reg then played with his sister.
When they said it was salmonella I just didn't know how she could have caught it
Amanda Vry
Reg was bought as a present for her son's ninth birthday and the family carried out research on keeping reptiles beforehand as Ms Vry was heavily pregnant at the time.
But when Gabrielle was 14 weeks old she suddenly fell ill and had a temperature of 40 degrees.
"When they said it was salmonella I just did not know how she could have caught it," Ms Vry told BBC News.
"I went to the hospital's information centre and typed in 'salmonella' and it said it can be caught quite easily from reptiles.
"We were all shocked after we had carried out the research before.
"If I had been given this information before we bought it, we would never have bought it and my daughter would never have been ill and my family would not have gone through this."
Symptoms of salmonella include diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, headaches, stomach cramps and fever.
Bob Laurence, a warden at West Midlands Safari Park, said hygiene is the most important thing to remember when handling pets.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/7316684.stm
Published: 2008/03/27 14:21:16 GMT
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RE: Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by Cro on March 27, 2008
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It is a lot more likely that the salmonella came from chicken, eggs, babyfood, fast food, or poorly washed vegatables, than from the pet snake.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by amanda34vry on March 28, 2008
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Hi, this is Gabriellas mom, her strain of salmonella that she contracted "Pomona" could not of come from anyway other than a reptile and as we have only been in contact with our own boa,it seems conclusive really.The Pomona strain of salmonella was discovered through her stool samples which were sent to the Public Health Labs in London, argue the case with them!!!
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RE: Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by amanda34vry on March 28, 2008
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This is Amanda Vry, the babys mom, yes i would of thought the same as yourself, only she only has formula and the strain of salmonella that she has contracted the "Pomona" strain is directly linked with reptiles, and as we have not been in contact with any other reptiles i think we can conclusivly say it came from our columbian boa. My daughter was very very lucky to have a positive outcome, as if you research the web, in America, infants such as the 4 week old baby in Florida actually proved fatal. Please be assured that i have got factual evidence as to the origin of the salmonella and it wasn't baby food,vegetables or undercooked food as she was only on baby formula milk.
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RE: Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by tigers9 on March 28, 2008
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Amanda, thanks for taking the time to post here.
I am honestly hoping this experience will not turn you against exotic animal ownership, at least against others who don’t have any negative experience or are willing to take the minimal risk which is part of everyday life.
Babies get sick form many household sources (chemicals, playing with knives, burned by hot water, lawnmovers, etc…), your case just got publicized because media loves anti exotic animal stories, it is politically correct to go against exotic ownership nowadays, exploting any isolated incident.
Please think about the good times you had with your boa and please don’t help the enemies, extreme animal rights groups, to use you and turn you into their poster child against owning these wonderful animals.
Thanks
Zuzana
www.REXANO.org
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RE: Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by Cro on March 28, 2008
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Amanda, it is great to hear that Gabriella is doing well.
Because you cultured the specific strain of Salmonella, then it can be traced specifically back to the pet snake. Some reptiles that come from pet shops are kept in rather poor conditions, where things like Salmonella bacteria can spread from an infected animal to another.
Salmonella is generally rare in reptiles, with the exception of aquatic turtles, which seem to be more likely to be carriers, probably because of the damp enviornment they live in.
Because Salmonella is found in many things like eggs, chicken, pepper, tainted water, cantalopes, and hundreds of other food items, it is sometimes surprising just how quickly folks want to blame reptiles, but the news folks have really hammered the pet turtle danger thing. Salmonella has the ability to live a long time on counter tops and contaminated cutting boards, and things like dish rags. However, it it had come from tainted food, then it is likely others in your family would be sick also.
The main thing is that your daughter is well. If you choose to keep pet snakes in the future, perhaps you can teach your son to wash his hands well after handling reptiles, and perhaps get some of those alcohol hand wipes for him to use.
This is something all reptile handlers should do anyway, however, it is not nearly as common as it needs to be. Also, you might want to shop for a pet from a private breeder, and not a reptile shop.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by amanda34vry on March 28, 2008
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Hi, no am really sorry the snake has to go, really enjoyed the time my family had it, only i cannot afford to take the risk of my baby contracting salmonella again, the reason behind the media, was to alert people of the potential risks so if they decide to buy a snake or reptile, they are fully aware, as we were never informed and nothing came up on the net when we researched care of a snake, but thanks for your comments
Regards
Mandie
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RE: Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by ChrisN on March 29, 2008
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In this case it is NOT CLEAR the baby caught salmonella from the pet snake, whilst it is true that S, pomona is found in reptiles, it is most commonly associated with turtles, not snakes. However, it is associated with other animals as well, such as pigs. Therefore it is equally POSSIBLE the infection was acquired from another source. This is not to say the baby did not catch the infection, simply it is not proven, to state as a fact the baby caught salmonella from the pet is inaccurate.
A year or to back there was another case reported in the medical journals whereby it was published that a child had contracted salmonella from a reptile. However, when I spoke with the doctors concerned they had again made the ASSUMPTION that the child had contracted salmonella from a reptile that a friend had had, but again the animal had not been tested. Interestingly Cadburys had previously recalled millions of bars of chocolate that had been infected with salmonella, the same strain the child had. Nevertheless the doctors concluded without any evidence whatsoever that the child had caught the infection from the pet reptile and not a bar of chocolate.
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RE: Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by Cro on March 29, 2008
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It would seem that if a culture was taken directly from the snake in question, that would determine if the snake was the cause or not.
Probably would cost more for the labwork than the snake is worth, though.
Without actually testing the pet snake, it can not be concluded 100% that the snake was the cause, but only that the Salmonella bacteria is of a type that is sometimes found on reptiles, and because the folks owned a reptile, there is a chance that was the source of the bacteria.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: Baby gets salmonella from snake -UK
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by ChrisN on March 29, 2008
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Here is the UK those who oppose the keeping of reptiles, or indeed any animal (including cats & dogs) as pets – ‘antis’ as we reefer to them, have exploited salmonella as an issue for so long it has become common place for even educated people (doctors) to leap to conclusions and blame reptiles as the source, without any actually evidence, as in this case. Why was the animal not tested?
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