Kids And Baby Turtle Don’t Mix

April 30th, 2008 by admin

Kids and baby turtles may seem a harmless combination, until one considers that this union was the main cause of more than a quarter million cases of reptile-associated salmonellosis, primarily in children, that occurred annually during the 1970s when the pet turtle craze was at its peak. During the 1970s it became something of a fad to buy  turtles about the size of a silver dollar, along with a small water bowl and plastic palm tree. Many people contracted reptile-associated salmonellosis through direct and indirect contact with these turtles. Children were prone to placing the turtles in their mouths or ingesting bacteria left on their hands after handling the turtles.

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