Tag Archives: Turtles

Doug dreams about flaming turtles

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I’ve taken to going to sleep about 10 p.m. and getting up about 4 a.m. That means Amy stays up later, feeds Sorenne a couple of more times, and apparently gets to listen to me babble in my sleep.

This is nothing new. I’ve given entire lectures in my sleep – and I’m just talking about with Amy, not classrooms.

I’ve written about the trauma of only having turtles as pets while growing up. And the recent story in the Baltimore Sun and the terrible response about how those tiny turtles are OK as long as little kids don’t put the entire turtle in their mouths apparently triggered some sort of response.

"I’m supposed to kill 6 of those f***ing flaming turtles"

Amy says she laughed, Doug started laughing, then said, "See, I’m wasting my resources when I’m not doing what I’m supposed to."

Amy, who likes to ask questions when I talk in my sleep, says,

"What are you supposed to be doing?"

"Keeping those f***ing new zealanders in line."

This probably had to do with the e-mails I was sending to New Zealanders Katie and Gary before I went to sleep. Or not.
 

Tenko the gecko found in broccoli, adopted by family

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And I thought I was emotionally deprived ‘cause I only had a cold-blooded pet – a turtle – as a child.

Some kid in Meole Brace, near Shrewsbury, which is apparently in the U.K., found a four-inch gecko in broccoli purchased from supermarket Tesco.

Mother Paula Walsh said,

"My daughter had been cutting the broccoli for lunch when she screamed, ‘Mum come quick, come quick – there’s something crawling in the broccoli’. I pulled gently and out he came."

The family decided to keep the little salmonella factory and named it Tenko the gecko.

Tesco said its suppliers had rigorous and thorough checking processes but was glad Tenko had found a good home.
 

Salmonella Poona outbreak in Canada and U.S.

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The Public Health Agency of Canada, still smarting from criticism over its absence  in the listeria outbreak, decided to show up Sunday night and advise Canadians about melamine, and a North American-wide Salmonella Poona outbreak

In Canada to date, there have been 6 cases spread across Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia with the same genetic fingerprint, and 14 other suspected cases in Ontario.  No one has been hospitalized so far.  There have been 48 cases reported in the U.S.

The cause of the potential outbreak is not known at this time.  Provincial laboratories and the Agency’s National Microbiology Laboratory are conducting ongoing analyses to determine if other Salmonella Poona cases share the same genetic fingerprint as those identified thus far.  The number of cases associated with this outbreak may increase as the investigation continues. … The Agency will keep Canadians informed as new information becomes available.

Salmonella Poona has been associated with outbreaks in cantaloupes and turtles. Given the outbreak of Salmonella – strain not yet identified in U.S. reports — involving pet turtles and up to 100 Americans announced last week, it’s probably the same outbreak.

But with the Public Health Agency of Canada who knows.

Don’t kiss turtles.

Stop kissing turtles: 100 US kids sickened in new Salmonella outbreak

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Growing up in late-1960s suburbia, my parents thought dogs should run on farms like their dogs had, and cats were a nuisance.

So I had a turtle.

Turtles were inexpensive, popular, and low maintenance, with an array of groovy pre-molded plastic housing designs to choose from. Invariably they would escape, only to be found days later behind the couch along with the skeleton of the class bunny my younger sister brought home from kindergarten one weekend.

But eventually, replacement turtles became harder to come by. Reports started surfacing that people with pet turtles were getting sick. In 1975, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned commercial distribution of turtles less than 4 inches in length, and it has been estimated that the FDA ban prevents some 100,000 cases of salmonellosis among children each year.

Maybe I got sick from my turtle.

Maybe I picked up my turtle, rolled around on the carpet with it, pet it a bit, and then stuck my finger in my mouth. Maybe in my emotionally vacant adolescence I kissed my turtle. Who can remember?

Last week the U.K. noted an increase in reptile-related Salmonella cases. Today, media outlets are reporting,

A multi-state salmonella outbreak among people handling turtles, that includes California and Los Angeles County, was announced Tuesday by officials at the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health Veterinary Public Health.

Over 100 people, mostly children were infected by the same strain and 24 of them had to be hospitalized officials at the Center for Disease Control reported.

Eleven cases of the infection were reported in Southern California that included eight cases in Los Angeles County, officials at L.A. county Public Health reported.

Many human exposures were indirect. One baby became ill after being bathed in a sink where turtle feces had been discarded. Two girls fell ill after swimming in an un-chlorinated pool where turtles had been swimming.
 

Don’t kiss turtles, even in Britain

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The UK Health Protection Agency reports that cases of Salmonella Arizonae have been on the increase and can be particularly harmful to infants.

The Telegraph reports that Dr Tansy Peters told the HPA’s annual conference,

"Although it is comparatively rare in humans, a study of samples submitted to our laboratory for testing from January 1998 to December 2007 shows that there has been a significant increase in both numerical and percentage terms.

"That may be a reflection of the increased popularity of reptiles as pets.

"This is a very worrying trend and infants and young children with their immature immune systems and weaker gastric acids are disproportionately affected. We even find cases in breast and formula-fed infants and it is unlikely that they acquired their infection from a source other than indirectly, via the parents, from the family’s pet reptile. Reptiles shed salmonella in their faeces and carry it on their skin and the public health implications of this inside the home should not be underestimated."

And if you have them in the home, don’t kiss them.
 

Reptile firm in Florida convicted for selling turtles

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Turtles do not make good pets.  The best people to attest to it would be Julie and William Godwin, the parents of three-week-old Shanna Godwin, who was killed in Feb. 2007 by Salmonella Pomona from a pet turtle in their home.

To combat the public health impact of turtle-associated salmonellosis, in 1975 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned commercial distribution of turtles less than 4 inches in length.
It has been estimated that the FDA ban prevents some 100,000 cases of salmonellosis among children each year.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on cases of turtle-associated salmonellosis in humans during 2006-2007, and the report concludes that the ban "likely remains the most effective public health action to prevent turtle-associated salmonellosis."

This week Strictly Reptile Inc. in Southern Florida was convicted for violating the ban on the sale of turtles with a shell length of less than 4 inches.

At least 103 cases of turtle-associated salmonellosis have been reported since May 2007, and many of those infected were children under the age of 10, the CDC said.  This makes it quite evident that turtles are still problem pets in people’s homes.

Stop licking the turtles

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A blogger writes,

"Apparently my favorite past-time of licking amphibians and reptiles is a health risk. Thus, it has to end."

Meanwhile, Dr. Raghavendra Rao writes that Jose, 16 months old, was brought to a health clinic by his mother. He had painful mucous stools and cried with each bowel movement.

The stool culture report eventually came back; it grew Salmonella group C2.

Having known that this infection usually comes from animals, I inquired the mother whether she had any pets at home. “No dogs or cats,” she said, “but my other son has a small turtle. He plays with it, takes it out of water and puts it back.”

“Give the turtle away,” I advised the mother.

When I was growing up, turtles were inexpensive, popular, and low maintenance, with an array of groovy pre-molded plastic housing designs to choose from. Invariably they would escape, only to be found days later behind the couch along with the skeleton of the class bunny my younger sister brought home from kindergarten one weekend.

But eventually, replacement turtles became harder to come by. Reports started surfacing that people with pet turtles were getting sick. In 1975, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned commercial distribution of turtles less than 4 inches in length, and it has been estimated that the FDA ban prevents some 100,000 cases of salmonellosis among children each year. Maybe I got sick from my turtle.

Maybe I picked up my turtle, rolled around on the carpet with it, pet it a bit, and then stuck my finger in my mouth. Maybe in my emotionally vacant adolescence I kissed my turtle. Who can remember?

I stopped too.

UK woman keeps 75 hibernating tortoises in her fridges

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The Daily Mail  reports that Shirley Neely’s two refrigerators contain, on every shelf, wrapped in tea towels, slumbering tortoises. The smaller ones are snuggled up in a biscuit tin, but the bigger fellows are laid out side-by-side in their makeshift sleeping bags.

Mrs Neely who runs the Jersey-based Tortoise Sanctuary, had to set up the fridges because of the particularly mild winter.

Her tortoises hibernate for up to three months between December and March, and need steady temperatures between 3c and 8c.

They are in danger of waking early if it heats up – and then do not have enough body weight to keep themselves warm and not enough energy to eat or drink.
But fridges, at a steady 4c to 6c, are the perfect environment.

She opens the doors each day to waft fresh air inside. As tortoises breathe only once a minute during hibernation, this is sufficient to keep them healthy.

Turtles can be salmonella factories.

Turtles might be cute, but they can also be a nasty pet.

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I’m not talking about the smell, the potential for nasty bites or the general boring-ness of the pet — they have also been linked to over 100 cases of Salmonella in the past 8 months.  We use the turtle outbreaks as a focus for this week’s infosheet, as a reminder to food handlers about the potential for pets to pass on pathogens.

Click here to download the infosheet.

Turtles still make people sick — 103 since last May

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports today that a salmonella outbreak that sickened and resulted in the hospitalization of children in 33 states has been traced back to the illegal sale of tiny pet turtles.

At least 103 cases have been reported since May 2007, and many of those infected were children under the age of 10, the CDC said.

In October 2007, the North Carolina Division of Public Health (NCDPH) notified CDC of human infections caused by Salmonella serotype Paratyphi B L (+) tartrate (+) (Salmonella Paratyphi B var. Java) in several states. Salmonella Paratyphi B var. Java is a nontyphoidal strain of Salmonella that causes gastroenteritis.

This report describes the results of the epidemiologic and laboratory investigation conducted by CDC and state and local health departments during October 2007–January 2008. The findings document an ongoing, multistate outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B var. Java infections, with the first reported illness onset occurring on May 4, 2007. Many of these infections have occurred in young children and have been associated with exposure to small turtles. Prohibiting the sale and distribution of small turtles likely remains the most effective public health action to prevent turtle-associated salmonellosis.

You never know what kids will do with turtles.