For Some Animals, There's No Place at Home

Exotic pets like rodents, reptiles and monkeys can carry disease, report warns

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

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MONDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Exposing your children to the joys of pet ownership may, in some cases, also mean exposing them to infections and injuries.

Parents need to be aware of the dangers -- including salmonella infection and even monkey pox -- of owning such nontraditional pets as rodents, reptiles, monkeys and more, says a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published in the October issue of Pediatrics.

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The report is the first comprehensive statement on the topic, said study co-author Dr. Robert Frenck, a pediatrics professor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and a member of the AAP committee on infectious diseases.

"Nontraditional pets are becoming more traditional, and nontraditional pets can expose kids to disease they otherwise might not be exposed to," Frenck said. "If parents are thinking about having these nontraditional pets, they may want to talk to a veterinarian and/or pediatrician first to see if there is any real concern."

Dr. Charles Mitchell, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, added, "From the standpoint of public education and from the standpoint of not only pediatricians but also family practitioners, this is important."

The number of exotic animals in the United States has almost doubled since 2002. For instance, 40,000 households now harbor hedgehogs, while 4.4 million homes are home to reptiles, according to the report.

The risks are real. In 2003, a human monkey pox outbreak was traced back to imported African Gambian rats that had infected prairie dogs sold as pets. Small pet turtles were responsible for 103 cases of salmonella infection in the second half of last year, mostly in young children, the report found.

And just last week, an Iraqi dog recently shipped to the United States as part of an international animal rescue effort was found to have rabies. Twenty-four other animals in the shipment, already distributed to 16 states, were potentially exposed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Oct. 3 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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