Exotic pets can be deadly

2008-10-06 10:09

Chicago - Warning: young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets - or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles, for that matter - because of risks for disease.

That's according to the leading US paediatricians' group in a new report about dangers from exotic animals.

Besides evidence that they can carry dangerous and sometimes potentially deadly germs, exotic pets may be more prone than cats and dogs to bite, scratch or claw - putting children younger than five particularly at risk, the report says.

Young children are vulnerable because of developing immune systems plus they often put their hands in their mouths.

That means families with children younger than five should avoid owning "non-traditional" pets. Also, kids that young should avoid contact with these animals in petting zoos or other public places, according to the report from the American Academy of Paediatrics. The report appears in the October edition of the group's medical journal, Paediatrics.

"Many parents clearly don't understand the risks from various infections" these animals often carry, said Dr Larry Pickering, the report's lead author and an infectious disease specialist at the federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

For example, about 11% of salmonella illnesses in children are thought to stem from contact with lizards, turtles and other reptiles, Pickering said. Hamsters also can carry this germ, which can cause severe diarrhoea, fever and stomach cramps.

Salmonella also has been found in baby chicks, and young children can get it by kissing or touching the animals and then putting their hands in their mouths, he said.

Families should wait until children are older

Study co-author Dr Joseph Bocchini said he recently treated an infant who got salmonella from the family's pet iguana, which was allowed to roam freely in the home. The child was hospitalised for four weeks but has recovered, said Bocchini, head of the academy's infectious diseases committee and paediatrics chairperson at Louisiana State University in Shreveport.

Hedgehogs can be dangerous because their quills can penetrate skin and have been known to spread a bacteria germ that can cause fever, stomach pain and a rash, the report said.

With supervision and precautions like hand-washing, contact between children and animals "is a good thing", Bocchini said. But families should wait until children are older before bringing home an exotic pet, he said.

Those who already have these pets should contact their veterinarians about specific risks and possible new homes for the animals, he said.

Data cited in the study indicate that about four million US households have pet reptiles. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, all kinds of exotic pets are on the rise, although generally fewer than two percent of households own them.

The veterinarian group's Mike Dutton, a Weare, New Hampshire, exotic animal specialist, said the recommendations send an important message to parents who sometimes buy exotic pets on an impulse, "then they ask questions, sometimes many months later".

But a spokesperson for the International Hedgehog Association said there's no reason to single out hedgehogs or other exotic pets.

"Our recommendation is that no animal should be a pet for kids five and under," said ZG Standing Bear. He runs a rescue operation near Pikes Peak, Colorado, for abandoned hedgehogs, which became fad pets about 10 years ago.

- AP