Med Page Today: IDSA: Frogs for Kids Come With Salmonella (CME/CE)

[Frog News]

Med Page Today (New Jersey, USA) October 26th, 2010 08:00 AM: IDSA: Frogs for Kids Come With Salmonella (CME/CE)

VANCOUVER (MedPage Today) -- African dwarf frogs -- marketed as pets for kids and people with major illnesses -- appear to be the vector for a major Salmonella typhimurium outbreak that sickened 113 people in 31 states over the course of a year.
Full Article

[John]

Someone needs to tell journalists that when animals are kept in unsanitary conditions they are possible vectors for Salmonella. "News stories" is the correct terminology.

[tgampper]

This is a great example of sensational and irresponsible journalism. It is not mentioned anywhere in the article to have kids wash their hands after handling the frog or habitat. Washing your hands or sanitizing them after handling frogs or toads goes a long way in preventing Salmonella. Also using a little common sense works too.

"Mettee said that the frogs were marketed with the suggestion that they were easy to care for and that their habitat could be changed just twice a year."

I agree that these frogs are easy to care for, but changing the habitat twice a year, BTW their habitat is water, seems a bit ridiculous to me. Dirty water = nasty little germs!

""We are working with the breeder to implement recommendations to reduce the risk of contamination," Mettee said. She suggested that frogs and other aquatic pets be kept outside the home."

Does Mette realize these frogs are from tropical Africa? I doubt very seriously you can find very many outdoor places in North America that are considered tropical! How absurd.

[onedge30]

What a warped world we live in. This is total journalistic sensationalism. The writer has taken all the 'red button' words and followed the CDC's huge extrapolation to jump to the most 'horrible' outcome conclusion!

If there was only a way to get the non-biased truth about these cases.

I can use facts and figures and extrapolate that the sky is purple.

This kinda reporting just makes me sick.