“You have college students coming to class with their bearded dragon on their shoulders, which is probably not the most sanitary thing,” said Brian Todd, a conservationist at the University of California, Davis, who specializes in reptiles and amphibians and has been not involved in the study. “After handling one, you need to wash your hands, especially before preparing food or picking up your child.”
Bearded dragons are not the only source of reptile-borne disease outbreaks. Last year, more than two dozen people in 11 states became ill with salmonella linked to baby turtles. That outbreak led to the hospitalization of nine people and led the CDC to warn against allowing children under 5 to have turtles as pets.
(The sale of turtles less than four inches has been banned since 1975.)
The study was published this week in the journal Emerging infectious diseases used whole-genome genetic sequencing to determine the origin of salmonella infections that sickened two children in Ontario, Canada. The researchers determined that the illnesses were caused by salmonella vitkin, a rare strain that had not been detected in Canada or the United States before 2021.
Dr. Katherine Paphitis, an epidemiologist with Public Health Ontario and lead author of the study, said the discovery prompted health officials in both countries to join forces to determine its origins.
Dr. Paphitis said there are 2,500 serotypes of salmonella, but that only about 100 sick people and only a handful are responsible for most human infections. The elderly, infants and those with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable to serious illness, he said.
Sequencing of the bacteria allowed Public Health Ontario researchers to link the two children who had become ill. Every family, they discovered, had bearded dragons. With genetic fingerprints in hand, Canadian officials contacted their counterparts at the CDC, who then identified a dozen cases of salmonella vitkin in the United States. Health officials in both countries have warned pet shops and pet owners about the risks. “Do not kiss or pet your bearded dragon,” the CDC said, “and do not eat or drink around it.”
The response to the outbreak demonstrated collaboration between health agencies, Dr. Paphitis said, and also helped spread vital information about bearded dragons that seemed to elude many owners.
“If you let them roam freely,” he said, “maybe don’t let them get on the kitchen countertop.”