Analog
Lifer
(CBS/AP) Furry "pocket pets" like hamsters, mice and rats have sickened up to 30 people in at least 10 states with dangerous multidrug-resistant bacteria, health officials are warning.
It is the first known outbreak of salmonella illness tied to such pets and reveals a previously unknown public health risk, officials said in a report released Thursday.
Many of the victims were children; six were hospitalized for vomiting, fever and severe diarrhea. Some passed the illness to others. The germ they had was resistant to five drugs spanning several classes of antibiotics.
"This is likely an under-representation of how large the problem is," because others who were sick may not have gone to doctors and not all labs do the kinds of tests that would detect this germ, said Dr. Chris Braden, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/06/earlyshow/main693347.shtml
It is the first known outbreak of salmonella illness tied to such pets and reveals a previously unknown public health risk, officials said in a report released Thursday.
Many of the victims were children; six were hospitalized for vomiting, fever and severe diarrhea. Some passed the illness to others. The germ they had was resistant to five drugs spanning several classes of antibiotics.
"This is likely an under-representation of how large the problem is," because others who were sick may not have gone to doctors and not all labs do the kinds of tests that would detect this germ, said Dr. Chris Braden, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/06/earlyshow/main693347.shtml
