Pet African Dwarf Frogs Spreading Salmonella to Children

This article explores the outbreak of a specific Salmonella strain that has been sending children all over the country to the hospital. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have investigated these outbreaks and linked the disease to owners of or people who have handled pet African dwarf frogs (Hymenochirus boettgeri). The author explains that the strain of Salmonella thrives in the aquariums and habitats of these domesticated frogs. This topic is interesting because it is the first national CDC investigation linking amphibians with Salmonella. It is also a good way to inform parents that these pets may make their children ill. It’s always beneficial to know where certain diseases are coming from. Just knowing the disease is in these amphibian habitats and implementing hand washing will reduce the sickness caused by this specific strand. This article poses the questions, should these frogs continue to be domesticated? And Do other domestic amphibians and their habitats cause disease? This issue will have to be investigated further but at least the source of this particular sickness that has hit children nationwide has been identified and can now be controlled.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/11/pet-frogs-carrying-salmonella-make-kids-sick/?iref=allsearch