Pet reptiles may cause human blood infection.....

[Reptscue]

From Veterinary Practice News........

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE>Human blood donors should be asked if they have pet reptiles at home and platelets should be routinely checked for contamination.
It also suggests that the Salmonella bacteria carried by reptiles cold contaminate blood from apperently healthy human donors.
The study tracked the case of two women who recieved the same batch of blood, donated by the owner of a boa constrictor.
The first woman, who was suffering stomach and intestinal bleeding before recieving platelets, subsequently died. The second woman recieved platelets as part ofher treatment for leukemia. She immediately fell ill but recovered.
The snake's owner gave blood regularly and felt well when he gave the blood in April. However he had fallen ill with diarrhea, cramps and fever two and a half weeks previously.
Bacteria later taken from the boa constrictor matched bacteria taken from its owner and the two women. </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

Has anyone ever heard of this?
I know that you can get Salmonella from reptiles , but didn't know that it could do this after the fact.

TYIA,
Kim
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[shady1]

i didn't know it could get that serious either.. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]
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[eddie]

This is actually a slightly old one...
The article from here which has many more details can be read HERE.

No need for a panic ora scare fest with this as there are only 3 reported cases PERIOD and the donor on one was sick just a few short weeks prior to donating the blood.
I am not sure if salmonella is like malaria, as in once you have had it you can't donate, but it does seem that the man did donate rather soon after being ill.
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[shady1]

I'm not talkin about the donating the blood thing, im talking about I didnt know illness could get that serious [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]
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[Reptscue]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE>I am not sure if salmonella is like malaria, as in once you have had it you can't donate, but it does seem that the man did donate rather soon after being ill. </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>
That's my question also. I wouldn't mind having a true excuse for not giving blood.[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img] I just wonder why. If this was last year why they are running this article in this months Vererinary Practice News magazine. A little slow I'd say. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]
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[metamorph0sis]

actually, almost any infection (depending on the &quot;germ&quot can reach your blood if it goes without being treated at it's primary location. the thing is, some of those nasty microorganisms can get through your system without showing symptoms for quite a while, giving them more of an opportunity. just an example, my brother was in the hospital over the summer with a strep infection in his skin (cellulitis), which had spread through his blood and was all over his body, because he had gotten strep throat and didn't treat it. thing was though, his throat barely hurt so he just thought it was a cold and dismissed it. weird, huh? i'm no expert on salmonella, but from the sounds of it, it's just one of those things... some people it hits right away, and sometimes it just sits and waits. i know that it's possible for reptiles to carry salmonella, but as long as you keep the living quarters as sanitary as possible and wash your hands after you handle them, it shouldn't be a problem. i mean geez, i think we all know you can get salmonella poisoning just from handling raw chicken or eggs, it's that easy. and also, to be completely honest, i think they should check donated blood for infection all the time. it's no big surprise that it can happen, and they test for everything else anyway.
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