Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.
Zoonoses Public Health. 2023 Dec;70(8):684-691. doi: 10.1111/zph.13080. Epub 2023 Sep 29.
The sale and distribution of small turtles (shell length <4 inches) as pets has been banned in the United States since 1975 because of the risk of Salmonella transmission, especially to children. Despite this 48-year-old ban, salmonellosis outbreaks continue to be linked to contact with small turtles. During investigations of turtle-associated outbreaks, information regarding the turtle farm of origin is difficult to obtain because turtles are commonly sold by transient vendors. During 2020-2021, public health officials investigated a multistate illness outbreak caused by Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium linked to pet small turtles. Cases were defined as a laboratory-confirmed Salmonella Typhimurium infection highly related (within 0-6 allele differences) to the outbreak strain based on whole-genome sequencing analysis by core-genome multilocus sequence typing with illness onset occurring during 27 August 2020-14 May 2021. Forty-three patients were identified from 12 states; of these, 35% (15/43) were children <5 years old. Among patients with available information, 37% (14/38) were hospitalized, and one death was reported. Seventy-four percent (25/34) of patients reported turtle exposure in the week before illness onset, and 84% (16/19) specified exposure to small turtles. The outbreak strain was isolated from samples collected from a Pennsylvania patient's small turtle tank. Two patients reported purchasing their small turtles from pet stores. Salmonella Braenderup was isolated from samples collected from small turtles and their habitat at one of these stores; however, at that time, this strain was not associated with any human illnesses. This investigation was notable because of the documented sale of small turtles from several pet stores combined with the identification of a single small turtle supplier to these pet stores. The high proportion of children involved in this outbreak highlights the continued need to educate the pet industry as well as parents and caregivers about the risk of turtle-associated salmonellosis especially in children. Understanding and addressing the persisting challenges related to the illegal sale and distribution of small turtles could reduce the burden of turtle-associated salmonellosis.
自 1975 年以来，由于沙门氏菌传播的风险，尤其是对儿童的风险， （壳长 <4 英寸）的小海龟在美国已被禁止作为宠物销售和分销。尽管有这项 48 年的禁令，但与小海龟接触仍会继续引发沙门氏菌病疫情。在与海龟相关的疫情调查中，由于海龟通常由流动摊贩出售，因此很难获得其原产海龟养殖场的信息。在 2020-2021 年期间，公共卫生官员调查了一起由肠炎沙门氏菌血清型鼠伤寒沙门氏菌引起的多州疾病爆发，与宠物小海龟有关。根据核心基因组多位点序列分型的全基因组测序分析，将与疫情株密切相关（0-6 个等位基因差异内）的实验室确认的鼠伤寒沙门氏菌感染病例定义为病例，发病时间为 2020 年 8 月 27 日至 2021 年 5 月 14 日。从 12 个州中确定了 43 名患者；其中，35%（15/43）为<5 岁的儿童。在有可用信息的患者中，37%（14/38）住院，报告了 1 例死亡。74%（25/34）的患者报告在发病前一周内接触过海龟，84%（16/19）具体接触过小海龟。疫情株从宾夕法尼亚州一名患者的小海龟水箱中采集的样本中分离出来。两名患者报告从小型宠物商店购买了小海龟。从其中一家商店的小海龟及其栖息地中分离出了肠炎沙门氏菌；然而，当时，这种菌株与任何人类疾病都没有关联。此次调查引人注目，原因是记录了从小型宠物商店出售小海龟的情况，以及从这些宠物商店向一个小海龟供应商出售小海龟的情况。该疫情中涉及的儿童比例很高，这突显了继续向宠物行业以及父母和照顾者进行有关与海龟相关的沙门氏菌病风险的教育的必要性，尤其是在儿童中。了解和解决与非法销售和分销小海龟相关的持续挑战，可以减轻与海龟相关的沙门氏菌病的负担。
