Petting zoos: What's wrong with this picture, Part II
Recently, my family went to an Ontario aviary/animal park. It was possible to touch many of the animals, and contact was encouraged because they sold food for the animals. The kids enjoyed having contact with animals, but this facility was an example of completely inadequate (or negligent) infection control practices. There's actually not much wrong with the picture in this post. The problem is that there was absolutely no means for people to wash or disinfect their hands after touching the animals. This is truly astounding in this day and age, with the increased awareness of the need for hand hygiene in these situations. Even at small, temporary animal exhibits and local fairs, handwashing facilities have become standard. I can't fathom why a large, permanent animal park wouldn't be set up properly. (It was even possible for people to touch aquatic turtles, which are very high risk for Salmonella transmission, but that's another story. More information on turtles can be found on the Resources page). What do you do if you want to have contact with animals but don't know whether you'll be able to wash your hands? Bring your own alcohol-based hand sanitizer. They're cheap, easy to find and effective, and it never hurts to have them on hand (pardon the pun).
Discussion of other petting zoo issues and links to other resources can be found in our Petting Zoo archives.
Petting zoos: What's wrong with this picture?
Petting zoos can be great activities, providing entertainment and education to kids and adults alike. However, contact with animals at these events does come with some degree of risk, and numerous infectious disease outbreaks associated with such contacts have been reported. Because of these risks, most petting zoos are improving their infection control precautions, particularly with respect to handwashing by participants after touching animals. Yet some high risk behaviours continue to occur. The picture at the right was recently published in the York Daily Record. While cute, this picture raises the ire of someone like me (especially since I have young children). My main concern: the goat is licking this baby's bottle. Where do you think the goat's mouth just came from? The ground, along with manure from various animals.
What might the bottle have been contaminated with? E. coli O157, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Clostridium difficile...
Where do you think this bottle is going next? The baby's mouth.
What will probably happen to the child?: Nothing.
What might happen to the child?: Disease caused by one of the above-named microorganisms (or others), ranging from mild diarrhea to fatal infection.
While there is good information available about precautions that should be taken for petting zoos, such as from the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, not all petting zoos take adequate precautions. A recent study pointed out common deficiencies.
Some important points to consider:
- Petting zoos are safe for the vast majority of the population if common sense measures are used.
- Items that will end up in the mouth of a child should never go into a petting zoo.
- Children should be closely supervised in petting zoos.
- Uncontrolled animal contact should be prevent.
- Hands should be washed after contact with animals or the petting zoo environment.
Reptile shows....wash your hands!!
Last weekend, my family and I went to an (indoor) aviary for an outing because the weather was particularly miserable. A new addition to this facility was a large reptile encounter exhibit. As part of this, people were encouraged to handle a bearded dragon (a type of lizard) and a large python. Contact with the animals was extremely popular with most people, including one of my daughters. She held the snake (twice) and the bearded dragon. Part of me was enjoying the experience and seeing what she got out of the encounter, but the infectious disease side of me had some concerns.
Petting zoos and similar animal contact events carry an inherent risk of infectious disease transmission. Outbreaks of various infectious diseases have been reported, mainly associated with farm animals. Reptiles are a particular concern because they can have high rates of Salmonella carriage. Terrestrial reptiles like bearded dragons and pythons are lower risk than species like aquatic turtles, but these animals can still be the source of salmonellosis in humans.
Petting zoos can be entertaining and educational, and fairly safe if run properly. However, deficiencies are often present. At this facility, there were multiple hand hygiene stations, consisting of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, which are very effective. Food and drink were banned in the area and there were staff supervising all animal contacts. These are all good things, however the best measures are useless if they are not used or enforced. While I made sure that my family carefully cleaned their hands, we were definitely in the minority. The hand hygiene stations were not particularly easy to access and there was't one present at the exit, so if you weren't looking for it you would probably just leave. Further, despite the signs, staff allowed people to eat and drink in the area where they were handling reptiles. Allowing people to eat and drink, and not providing easy access to the hand sanitizers (two pretty basic measures) were major problems and greatly increase the risk of disease transmission.
I'm not suggesting we should avoid petting zoos. My kids enjoy them and we will surely attend a few this summer. The key with animal contact exhibits is common sense....avoid high risk animals, keep you hands out of your mouth and wash your hands thoroughly when leaving (even if you didn't touch an animal since you probably touched other surfaces). Some animal species are particularly high risk, including young poultry and young ruminants (e.g. calves, lambs, goats). Reptiles fit into this high risk group, which is why I had more concern about this event than a standard petting zoo. People with compromised immune systems should avoid animal contact, particularly with calves, chicks, lambs and reptiles.
And above all, WASH YOUR HANDS.
A good source of information about animal contact events and infectious diseases is available from the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians.
Petting zoos and similar animal contact events carry an inherent risk of infectious disease transmission. Outbreaks of various infectious diseases have been reported, mainly associated with farm animals. Reptiles are a particular concern because they can have high rates of Salmonella carriage. Terrestrial reptiles like bearded dragons and pythons are lower risk than species like aquatic turtles, but these animals can still be the source of salmonellosis in humans. Petting zoos can be entertaining and educational, and fairly safe if run properly. However, deficiencies are often present. At this facility, there were multiple hand hygiene stations, consisting of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, which are very effective. Food and drink were banned in the area and there were staff supervising all animal contacts. These are all good things, however the best measures are useless if they are not used or enforced. While I made sure that my family carefully cleaned their hands, we were definitely in the minority. The hand hygiene stations were not particularly easy to access and there was't one present at the exit, so if you weren't looking for it you would probably just leave. Further, despite the signs, staff allowed people to eat and drink in the area where they were handling reptiles. Allowing people to eat and drink, and not providing easy access to the hand sanitizers (two pretty basic measures) were major problems and greatly increase the risk of disease transmission.
I'm not suggesting we should avoid petting zoos. My kids enjoy them and we will surely attend a few this summer. The key with animal contact exhibits is common sense....avoid high risk animals, keep you hands out of your mouth and wash your hands thoroughly when leaving (even if you didn't touch an animal since you probably touched other surfaces). Some animal species are particularly high risk, including young poultry and young ruminants (e.g. calves, lambs, goats). Reptiles fit into this high risk group, which is why I had more concern about this event than a standard petting zoo. People with compromised immune systems should avoid animal contact, particularly with calves, chicks, lambs and reptiles.
And above all, WASH YOUR HANDS.
A good source of information about animal contact events and infectious diseases is available from the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians.
