An abstract for the upcoming CSTE (Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists) conference in California describes a rare but concerning case of Brucella canis infection in a child. All I have to go by is the abstract (since the meeting hasn’t happened yet and I won’t be there anyway), but it provides an
Reptiles, pet stores and child care
My youngest daughter Erin is in every-other-day kindergarten and goes to a child care centre on her non-school days. Overall, it’s a great place – excellent people, great learning environment and she enjoys herself.
During the initial interview at the centre, what I do for a living came up and we got into a discussion about
Reptile warning changes proposed in Texas
The Texas Department of State Health Services has proposed a series of changes to warnings that are already required of retailers that sell reptiles. The warnings are focused on prevention of salmonellosis, and retailers must post signs and provide written warnings to anyone buying a reptile about the risk of salmonellosis from reptiles.
Signs
Rat bite fever leads to pet store lawsuit
A Phoenix, Arizona man is suing a pet store after he contracted rat bite fever from a rat he had purchased. It’s not surprising to see a lawsuit following a serious illness, considering people in the US often try to sue for just about anything, but I’m not sure it won’t get very far.
Suspected psittacosis in a pet shop worker
People that work with animals are at increased risk for certain infectious diseases. That’s pretty clear. Pet shop employees fit into this group as well, and they may be at particular risk for specific diseases because of their close contact with young animals, birds, rodents and reptiles. A suspected case of psittacosis in a Toronto
Stop the presses: sick puppies from a pet store!
It should come as no surprise that puppies (and kittens, and pretty much any type of animal) from pet stores can carry infectious diseases. The same can be said about puppies (and kittens, and pretty much any type of animal) from other sources. It’s really a question of the relative degree of risk.