ATLANTA, Ga., May 6, 2005
'Pocket Pets' Salmonella Risk
CDC Warns Hamsters, Mice, More Can Spread The Bug
-
Play CBS Video Video Dangers Of 'Pocket Pets' The Centers for Disease Control warns pet owners to be careful of their hamsters, gerbils and pet mice because they may be carrying salmonella. Dr. Nina Marano explains on The Early Show.
-
(AP / CBS)
-
Interactive Contagious Critters Learn about some of the ways exotic and everyday pets can make people sick.
Of the 22 people they have been able to interview, 13 had contact with rodents bought from pet stores and two caught salmonella from others who were ill. Seven had no known contact with rodents; investigations are continuing on the rest.
Cases have been confirmed in Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and North Carolina.
Diarrhea is common in rodents, and many animal dealers routinely use antibiotics to prevent this. Such use may have spurred this multidrug-resistant strain to emerge, health officials speculate.
But not all of the animals in this outbreak were sick, so people should not think healthy ones don't carry the bacteria, Swanson said.
"We only looked for this particular strain. There may be other salmonellas that may be linked to pocket pets," Braden added.
Dr. Robert Tauxe, chief of foodborne illness at CDC, said detecting an outbreak like this would not have been possible before PulseNet, a system he helped start in 1996. It was expanded nationwide in 2001.
"With great luck, a case of illness in Minnesota might have been linked to one hamster and that would have been the end of it," Tauxe said. "We would never have been able to identify it as a nationwide problem."
In light of the outbreak, Marano says the CDC recommends:
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More From Health News
How gold pays for 
