In addition to the high risk of animal disease in pet stores, there is also the danger of zoonotic diseases (those that can be spread from animals to humans). Animals not properly maintained or kept in dirty conditions are more likely to transmit these diseases. Salmonella, monkeypox, and psittacosis outbreaks have all been linked back to pet stores.
Salmonella
Salmonella is an intestinal infection that causes diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. Most people recover without treatment. However, in some people, the Salmonella infection may spread to the blood stream, and can cause death without prompt medical treatment. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are the most susceptible to severe cases.
Over one million salmonella bacteria infections and 415 related deaths occur annually in the United States.
Salmonella is usually transmitted to humans by eating improperly cooked foods contaminated with animal feces. Salmonella may also be found in the feces of some pets, especially those with diarrhea, and people can become infected if they do not wash their hands after contact with these feces.
During a multistate salmonella outbreak between December 2003 and September 2004, 28 patients from 19 different states suffered infection from the same strain of salmonella bacteria — S.Typhimuriam.
After interviewing 22 of the infected patients — or their parents — researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered that 13 of those patients had been directly exposed to rodents purchased from retail pet stores. The CDC investigation linked the sick rodents to 13 retail stores and 7 distributors, located mainly on the East coast and Midwest.
The CDC report speculates that the animals themselves became infected with the salmonella bacteria through crowded cages, dirty living conditions, and too much uncomfortable travel time. The bacteria may have become widely disseminated within the distributor and pet-store network through the use of unsanitized transport containers.
The salmonella strain that had infected the rodents and their owners was drug resistant — meaning that antibiotics were useless against the bacteria. This is likely due to the pet stores giving prophylactic antibiotics to their animals — just as some farmers give to their livestock. The salmonella bacteria actually built a sort of immunity against the antibiotics.
Other animals, such as reptiles, amphibians, kittens, ducks, chicks, and hedgehogs, may carry the bacteria in their intestinal tracts. Reptiles are especially known as being carriers.
In the 1970s the United States banned the sale of small turtles smaller than four inches (ten centimeters) long because of numerous salmonella outbreaks. The 4 inch rule was enacted primarily because such small chelonians often found their way into the hands of toddlers and small children under unhygienic circumstances and such small humans were most at risk from salmonella and its negative effects. (Unfortunately, because of the expense of raising the animals, the law promotes the sale of wild-caught rather than captive-bred animals in commercial trade within the US.)
For more information on Salmonella, visit these pages:
The Center for Disease Control’s Salmonella Website
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salmonellosis_g.htm
ABC NEWS: Little Pet Shop of Horrors
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2767798&page=2
Tularemia
Tularemia, or rabbit fever, is a bacterial disease associated with both animals and humans. Although many wild and domestic animals can be infected, the rabbit is most often involved in disease outbreaks.
Tularemia is typically transmitted when people are handling an infected animal. Possible symptoms include sore throat, diarrhea, swollen and painful lymph glands, inflamed eyes, sore throat, mouth sores, diarrhea or pneumonia, and skin ulcers. It's usually treatable with antibiotics but can be fatal if left untreated.
In February 2004, there was an outbreak of tularemia in a Denver pet store. The CDC speculates that wild rodents carrying tularemia might have "infested the pet store and spread the infection to hamsters by urinating and defecating through metal screens covering hamster cages."
Monkeypox
Monkeypox is a viral disease caused by the monkeypox virus (named so because it was first discovered in a monkey). It is usually found in Africa and very rare in the United States. The virus can spread from animals to humans and sometimes from human to human.
In humans, monkeypox causes fever, headache, backache, and swollen lymph nodes, followed by a blister-like rash. Symptoms are almost identical to, but milder than, smallpox. In some rare cases, monkeypox can be fatal.
In June 2003, monkeypox was reported among several people in the United States that became ill after having contact with pet prairie dogs. The prairie dogs contracted the disease while they were housed in a pet store with imported African rodents.
On June 11, 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a joint order prohibiting the importation of all African rodents into the United States. The imported animals include Gambian giant rats, rope squirrels, dormice, and other small mammals. The joint order also banned within the United States any sale, offering for distribution, transport, or release into the environment, of prairie dogs. Later that year, the ban was made permanent.
CDC Monkeypox Fact sheet
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/monkeypox/factsheet2.htm
13 sick after prairie dog contact
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=146134
Psittacosis
Psittacosis refers to any infection or disease caused by Chlamydia psittaci. It is also known as parrot disease, ornithosis, and chlamydiosis.
Birds which contract the infection include parrots, canaries, pigeons, chickens, ducks, and turkeys. Sick birds show signs of lethargy,shivering, weight loss, breathing difficulties, and diarrhea.
Birds can also have a latent infection (they appear healthy and do not show any symptoms). Stress associated with nutritional deficiencies, overcrowding, breeding, egg-laying and prolonged transport may cause birds with a latent infection to shed infectious agents. When shedding occurs, the infected birds excrete the bacteria in the feces and nasal discharges.
Humans can become infected with Psittacosis by breathing in the organism when the urine, respiratory secretion, or dried feces of infected birds is dispersed in the air. Other sources of exposure include mouth-to-beak contact, a bite from an infected bird, and handling the plumage and tissues of infected birds.
In humans, the infection varies in severity from a mild flu-like illness to severe pneumonia. Generally, the signs and symptoms appear within four to 15 days after exposure.
Psittacosis is primarily a lung disease but it can involve several organs. Some reports show that inflammation of the liver, lining of the heart cavity, the heart muscle, and the brain can occur.
The course of the disease is variable and it can result in death. However, fatal cases are rare. In mild cases, fever may continue for three weeks or more.
Preventive measures include feeding birds properly, avoiding overcrowding, and adequate ventilation systems. Clean cages are also important. Infected birds should be kept in strict isolation.
Once again, the bacteria can become resistant to drugs when breeders and pet stores routinely mix antibiotics into animal feed.
