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disease transmission between snakes & us
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by asud on February 12, 2010
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i know the bacterial load from a bite or even just airborne can sensitize (or cripple) our systems. but i wonder if anyone out there knows of any specifically viral infections that have been traded between humans and snakes, be it through handling, dissecting or less invasive, passive exposure?
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RE: disease transmission between snakes & us
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by FSB on February 13, 2010
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I can think of no zoonotic diseases regularly transmitted by snakes, though there might be some rare or aberrant case on record somewhere. A snake might come into contact with salmonella the same way we would - through raw chicken or eggs, but that would not qualify snakes as being vectors of what is essentially a food-borne illness. Suffice it to say that I am far more at ease working with hundreds of snakes than I am about visiting my son's elementary school, or the public library. Hand-sanitizer is a real life-saver!
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RE: disease transmission between snakes & us
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by JHarrison on February 13, 2010
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Sorry, but the above is completely false.
Reptile borne salmonella is a different species than what is commonly found in eggs or what contaminates our spinach. Reptiles are indeed a vector for this salmonella and you can get it directly from them, especially if you come in contact with some feces and fail to wash up properly before eating or touching your face.
However, salmonella is a bacteria, not a virus. I am not aware of any viral diseases that humans can get from snakes. However, I would hesitate to say that this can not happen, since we can clearly get viruses from other animals. (Chickens, pigs, prairie dogs, anyone?)
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RE: disease transmission between snakes & us
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by FSB on February 15, 2010
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Ouch! Okay, I was perhaps a bit hasty in that response, but I was thinking the questiion was directed more towards the importance of snake zoonoses as a public health issue. Cathy Johnson-Delaney, in Mader's Reptile Medicine and Surgery states that S. arizonae is the most prevalent serotype of Salmonella found in snakes, with as many as 78.8% harboring the organism, but, as she goes on to state: "Isolation of the organism from the reptile does not really elucidate its role in causing disease in the reptile or potential for zoonotic transmission." The only case histories I have seen of actual reptile-human transmission of salmonellosis have involved either turtles or lizards [iguanas, esp]. Of course [and perhaps it does NOT go without saying] proper sanitation should always be strictly observed by any keepers of captive reptiles, especially in the handling of feces and maintainig the cleanliness of the habitat. I disinfect my hands before and after handling each animal, and use gloves for cleaning. Still, my primary concern [at least with snakes] is reptile-reptile transmission more than zoonoses. Getting back to your original question, Asud, mammals pose a much greater health risk to humans in terms of viral threats, especially in the case of rodents [e.g. hanta virus], and the virus commonly associated with green vervet monkeys is highly virulent and similar to human HIV. In handling snake feces, a primary concern would be zoonoses transmitted from rodents eaten by the snake. Interestingly, some reptiles and amphibians [including snakes] may act as reservoirs for western equine encephalitis, and there have been reports of West Nile virus in farmed crocodilians. Reptiles routinely house various enteric bacteria, including aeromonas and pseudomonas, opportunistic pathogens which may infect humans, but are normally not a great health risk except in young children, the elderly or those with weakened immune systems.
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