The CDC recently warned that thousands of children are being exposed to dangerous E. coli bacteria at petting zoos and county fairs, after recording bacterial infection outbreaks affecting 56 people, among them dozens of children, at a dairy farm in Pennsylvania and a petting zoo in Washington state. The children touched goats, cows, chickens, and other farm animals, and then put their hands to their mouths - either by eating and drinking near the animals, or by chewing their fingernails or sucking on pacifiers, AP reported. About 70,000 cases of E. coli infection are reported in the US each year, and some 100 are fatal.
Transmission is usually by food and water, but exposure to animals is also a significant risk.
He also had no epidemiological figures on any E. coli outbreaks due to children's contacts with animals. Asked to comment, Tisch Jerusalem Biblical Zoo's chief veterinarian Dr. Gabi Eshkar said he was not aware of such cases either, but that the factors are hard to isolate.