Although most cases of salmonella are caused by food contamination, reptiles account for about 93,000 cases of such illness each year, or about 7 percent of the total. Salmonella infections can cause fever, vomiting, bloody diarrhea and sometimes blood poisoning, meningitis or death. People can become infected by handling the animal or by handling objects contaminated with the reptile's feces. Touching the reptile isn't necessary. According to the CDC, some cases of reptile-associated illness have occurred in infants who never even touched the scaly family pet, presumably resulting from having been held by people whose hands were contaminated.
Reptiles carry salmonella in their digestive tracts and frequently shed the bacteria in their feces.
The microbes don't make them sick. There is no reliable test or treatment to ensure that a pet reptile won't carry the bacteria. We feel there is no way to say that a reptile is salmonella-free. Wong said CDC officials are so concerned about the risk to young children that they decided last week to strengthen one of the new guidelines after it had already been printed in the agency's weekly bulletin. An autopsy revealed no cause, but bacterial cultures of a blood sample taken from the heart were positive for a rare type of salmonella associated with reptiles.