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Last updated January 1, 2014

Interview with the CDC: Dr. Jonathan Mirmen

Full interview transcript with Dr. Jonathan Mirmen, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. From the green iguanas/Salmonella segment in the CNN program American Edge, June 1997.

David Mattingly, CNN Producer

DAVID:
What is Salmonella and what can it do to a person?

Dr. MERMIN:
Salmonella is a bacteria and when it infects humans, it has a broad spectrum of diseases, ranging from no symptoms at all, to -- rarely -- death. Most people who get Salmonella infection, have a bad case of diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramping for about a week.

DAVID:
How many people actually get Salmonella?

DR. MERMIN:
We estimate that between two to four million people in the United States get Salmonella infection each year. The majority of those infections are due to contaminated beef, poultry or egg products. About 50 thousand of those infections a year are thought to be from contact with reptiles.

DAVID:
Of that fifty thousand, how many people actually make the connection? That it came from their reptile.

DR. MERMIN:
Extremely few.

DAVID:
If you could break that down into a percentage what percentage of cases would you say are related to reptiles?

DR. MERMIN:
Probably two to five percent.

DAVID:
How does the threat of Salmonella from a reptile differ from the threat of Salmonella from chicken or a piece of meat?

DR. MERMIN
Salmonella infections from reptiles are much more likely to affect infants. And infants are much more likely to have complications from their Salmonella infection such as sepsis or meningitis, an inflammation of the covering of the brain.

DAVID:
Why is it more likely to affect infants?

DR. MERMIN
We don't know exactly. It may have something to do with the fact that they have a weaker immune system.

DAVID:
How is just by bringing a reptile into my house more of a threat to my child than a piece of uncooked meat?

DR. MERMIN:
Households with infants, or people with weak immune systems, should not own pet reptiles. Reptiles carry Salmonella in their stool, and they get covered with Salmonella on their bodies. If they are allowed to walk, slither, or hop around the house, they can spread Salmonella which can survive under those circumstances for several weeks. Sometime during another day, someone in the household could touch an area that had some Salmonella on it and then put their finger in the baby's mouth or cook some food or prepare a bottle for the infant. All those circumstances can potentially infect the child with Salmonella that ultimately came from the pet reptile. In most cases of reptile-related Salmonella infections that have occurred in infants, the infants never touched the reptile. That is why we need to keep pet reptiles out of homes where infants live.

DAVID:
How many people actually die from Salmonella each year?

DR. MERMIN:
Approximately five hundred people in the United States each year.

DAVID:
What percentage of those are related to reptile-related Salmonella?

DR. MERMIN:
We think between one and four percent.

DAVID:
How many actual cases have you documented of people dying from Salmonella related to reptiles?

DR. MERMIN:
In recent years it's been quite few. But we don't document all cases of Salmonella infection. There are approximately four thousand reported cases each year, but we estimate between two and four million actually occur.

DAVID:
How many iguanas actually carry Salmonella?

DR. MERMIN:
Studies looking at pet reptiles, have shown that between sixty and ninety percent of reptiles carry Salmonella. It does not differ whether the reptile is from the wild or from a zoo and it does not differ whether the reptile is a turtle, an iguana or a snake. Reptiles carry Salmonella.

DAVID:
When we were in Central America, we had farmers telling us that their iguanas are checked regularly and there is no sign of Salmonella. We have pet shop owners telling us that their reptiles do not carry Salmonella. Are they telling the truth?

DR. MERMIN:
There are several reasons why an iguana farmer might not be detecting Salmonella among his pet iguanas. He is either not handling the stool samples correctly before culturing them, or the laboratory may not culture Salmonella well, or he's not telling you the truth.

DAVID:
So how can a pet shop owner or a farmer who raises iguanas tell me that they have no Salmonella?

DR. MERMIN:
The important point to be made for reptile owners is that they should assume that their reptile has Salmonella and that they can enjoy their pet and reduce the risk of infection by following certain recommendations. Those recommendations are: to keep pet reptiles out of homes where children under one year of age, or people with weak immune systems live -- such as people with AIDS or people on chemotherapy drugs; wash their hands after touching the pet and keep the reptile out of the kitchen; do not let the reptile roam freely throughout the house; and although they can be affectionate to their reptile, do not to kiss or nuzzle it.

DAVID:
Let me tell you what we saw when we went to pet stores. We had people telling us iguanas don't carry diseases that humans can catch. They downplayed the chance of someone getting Salmonella from a reptile. How would you characterize the information that people are actually getting at these pet stores?

DR. MERMIN:
When we visited pet stores, we found that the level of knowledge about Salmonella from reptiles was actually fairly high. But the amount of education that they were providing their customers was not.

DAVID:
As long as people are getting misinformation or not enough information, at what sort of risk are we putting people who buy these reptiles?

DR. MERMIN:
For most of the people who have a pet reptile, the risk is a bout of diarrheal illness. For some, it's the risk of a serious infection, especially if there are infants in the home.

DAVID:
But pet store owners, farmers are telling us that they are safe. What are they doing by giving us this wrong information? Are they putting people at risk unnecessarily?

DR. MERMIN:
In the 1970s, there were about 280 thousand cases of Salmonella related to pet turtles. At that time, the Food and Drug Administration banned the importation and interstate sales of turtles with shell eggs under four inches. That made a dramatic reduction in the number of cases of Salmonella as related to pet turtles. Since that time, there has not been a lot of information out in either the pet store world or among the public about the risks of owning a pet reptile. I think it's time for an educational campaign to occur.

DAVID:
Families who have had a child, or someone in their family who comes down with Salmonella from their pet reptile blame the pet stores. They blame the pet industry for not giving this information to them. People in the industry however, say some responsibility has to lie with the parent. Who's at fault here?

DR. MERMIN:
I'm not sure the question is "who is at fault," but "what we can do?" Right now, there is a lot we can do to further educate pet stores, veterinarians, physicians, and reptile owners about how they can protect themselves from getting Salmonella infection from their pet reptiles.

DAVID:
When I go into a pet store, is it realistic for me to expect the clerk or even the shop owner to fully understand the threat of Salmonella?

DR. MERMIN:
I don't think so. I think what we can expect from pet stores and the personnel working in the pet stores is that they can provide some information about the risks of reptiles spreading Salmonella to their owners. The educational campaign that we are conducting with state health departments and the pet industry, tries to take away the burden of education from the personnel in the pet stores and put that in the hands of posters and information sheets that can be provided to every customer who is considering purchasing a reptile.

Edited for content by CNN