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Many reptiles carry Salmonella, but most previous reptile-associated human Salmonella infections have involved exposure to small turtles. In 1975, sale of turtles with a carapace length <4 inches was banned in the U.S. Nonetheless, small turtles continue to be available, and several outbreaks of turtle-associated salmonellosis have occurred in the ensuing decades.
The latest such outbreak was recognized after two teenage girls — one in North Carolina, the other in South Carolina — presented in late August 2007 with bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, and vomiting. One of the girls also had renal failure and required hospitalization. Both girls had swum in an unchlorinated, in-ground pool belonging to the older girl’s family; two small …