Whoa! Here s something interesting I came across on the Internet. And considering it s now the time of year for traveling and vacations, I thought others would be interested to know also.
It appears that public zoos, fairs and roadside zoos have potentially serious consequences for petting the animals. At www.wildlifepimps.com (click on Attractions ), it lists thousands of people (mostly children) who have contracted serious bacterial, viral and parasitic infections, and diseases such as E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter. Also, 650 people were exposed to rabies in a bear cub and had to undergo rabies vaccinations.
According to the information at this Web site these diseases can be picked up not only from petting wild animals but also can be carried on clothes and picked up from fence posts. It lists how many people at each location contracted the diseases and that many underwent hospital stays, surgery, transfusions, kidney dialysis, etc., and some even died.
If you are planning to travel and possibly visit zoos or fairs, you might reconsider letting your children, and yourself as well, pet any wild animals. Granted, it may be thousands of people out of millions who attend zoos and fairs who contract such diseases every year but personally I would not want it to be myself or my children.
Danielle Holliday
Kelseyville
