Tag Archives: Turtles

No pet turtles for Xmas

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Pet turtles can kill. Or make a bunch of kids barf.

North Carolina is the latest area to be hit — after five kids got sick with salmonellosis after handling pet turtles.

The North Carolina Division of Public Health and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) investigated the cluster of five cases – four in North Carolina (Burke, Lincoln, Union and Montgomery counties) and one in South Carolina (York County).  Four of the children had positive cultures for salmonella. The fifth did not have a positive culture but was sick and had contact with a confirmed case.  All five children have recovered, although one was hospitalized with kidney failure as a result of the infection. The children all got sick this past summer.

Veterinarians recently tested the Union County child’s pet turtle cage; it tested positive for the same strain of Salmonella that was responsible for the outbreak.

They may appear cute, but reptiles are Salmonella factories. And who knows what kids will do with them.

Pet turtles can kill

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MyFox Orlando interviewed Julie and William Godwin, the parents of three-week-old Shanna Godwin (below), who was killed by Salmonella Pomona in Feb. 2007. The same Salmonella Pomona was found in a pet turtle in the home.

William Godwin was quoted as saying,

"I felt really bad because I brought them home. I would have never brought them home if I would have known that, she didn’t have a chance."

The Godwin’s said their friends bought the turtles at a flea market. And while they’ve hired a lawyer to help with their complaint against that flea market, Julie says this is not about a legal claim, it’s about getting the word out to all parents.

“I think parents should know that they can make your kids sick and are deadly," she said. ”They should know before they bring them home.”

Since 1975 the sale of turtles with a shell less than 4 inches long is illegal. They can only be sold for scientific, educational or exhibition purposes.

Stop kissing turtles

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Another outbreak of salmonella linked to pet turtles sold by street vendors, this time in Arizona.

Dr. Bob England of the Maricopa County Health Department was quoted as saying,

"Little children especially are at risk for this, because they tend to be the ones who get these small turtles as pets and play with them and they are exposed to the bacteria."

England said, so far this year, there’s been nearly a dozen reports of kids becoming infected with salmonella, linked to pet turtles.

Salmonella in pet turtles in Korea

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The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) reports that salmonella has been found in 13 percent of pet turtles that have been sold at aquariums, retail outlets and Internet shopping malls.

The story says that according to statistics from the Korea Customs Service (KCS), nearly 200,000 pet turtles were imported last year. However, there is no regulation on their sales.

Recently the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported on the death of a 3-week-old Florida infant who, along with 21 other small children across the U.S., were sickened by a strain of Salmonella Pomona associated with small pet turtles over an 8-month period from 2006 to 2007.

I’ve reported on my own experiences with pet turtles.

And in Nov. 2006, Pam Anderson apparently filmed a movie, co-starring Denise Richards, and her pet turtle wouldn’t stop farting.