Tauxe R V, Rigau-Pérez J G, Wells J G, Blake P A
JAMA. 1985 Jul 12;254(2):237-9.
After the Puerto Rico Department of Health received a report of salmonellosis in an infant who had contact with a pet turtle, we conducted a case-control study in two urban areas in Puerto Rico to measure the extent of pet turtle-associated salmonellosis there. Ten (17%) of 60 infants with salmonellosis but none of their matched controls had a history of exposure to a pet turtle in the two weeks before onset of illness. Two other case patients were also exposed to a pet turtle--an 8-year-old child and an adult with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and Salmonella bacteremia. A variety of Salmonella serogroups were represented in the turtle-associated cases. All turtle lots collected from pet shops in Puerto Rico were culture-positive for Salmonella; 89% yielded Salmonella pomona. Contamination of the turtles probably occurred at the farm before distribution, since S pomona was also isolated from turtles exported from the same farm to Guam and to Yugoslavia. The estimated 3 to 4 million turtles exported annually from the United States are an important potential route for global dissemination of human salmonellosis.
波多黎各卫生部收到一名与宠物龟接触过的婴儿患沙门氏菌病的报告后，我们在波多黎各的两个市区开展了一项病例对照研究，以测定当地与宠物龟相关的沙门氏菌病的发病程度。60名患沙门氏菌病的婴儿中有10名（17%）在发病前两周有接触宠物龟的病史，而与之匹配的对照者均无此病史。另外两名病例患者也接触过宠物龟，一名8岁儿童和一名患有获得性免疫缺陷综合征及沙门氏菌血症的成年人。与宠物龟相关的病例中出现了多种沙门氏菌血清群。从波多黎各宠物店采集的所有龟群沙门氏菌培养均呈阳性；89%分离出波摩那沙门氏菌。龟的污染可能在养殖场分发之前就已发生，因为从同一个养殖场出口到关岛和南斯拉夫的龟也分离出了波摩那沙门氏菌。据估计，美国每年出口300万至400万只龟，这是人类沙门氏菌病在全球传播的一个重要潜在途径。
