Public Health England have linked a spike in Salmonella cases to an unlikely source – snakes.

It’s not unusual.

You see a reptile, I see a Salmonella factory.

In the UK, 70 cases have been reported so far in 2015 involving people handling reptiles.

Professor Jeremy Hawker said the bug was primarily contracted from handling raw and frozen mice which are then fed to snakes.

He also warned that it could be caught from furniture, clothes and household surfaces contaminated by infected droppings.

But Welsh crooner Tom Jones has a simpler message that snake owners should take to heart.