Reports are in of an iguana that bit a child in Costa Rica over a piece of birthday cake, that transmitted mycobacerium marinum to the child. Parents were proactive after the initial bite and took the child for medical care for the superficial bite, and antibiotics. It took five months for the mycobacerium marinum to grow, as it is resistant to most common antibiotics. Dr. Jordan Mah, the author of the report that will appear in the June 2023 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, CDC’s monthly peer-reviewed public health journal, said it’s not unusual for it to take a few months for a growth to surface. Usually mycobacterium marinum is assoiated with snake bites, he said. “The course this pathogen takes with this infection happens over a period of time,” said Mah, an expert in medical microbiology who worked at the lab that tested the cyst as a part of the Department of Pathology at Stanford University. Iguanas, though not a naturally aggressive specimen, will bite to defend itself, or in this case… for a piece of birthday cake. This is a major reason you should NEVER feed wildlife. Iguanas most commonly transmit salmonella through their skin and feces. Iguanas are a major nuisance in South Florida, especially in Miami-Dade county. They are an invasive wildlife species that requires professional removal to control populations. For all of your wildlife problems, call us 24/7 at 305-255-7296 or 954-927-7296. Pesky Critters has highly trained trappers with live capture equipment to provide safe wildlife removals for the humans AND animals involved.
For more on this news report visit https://www.sun-sentinel.com/.../iguana-bites-can-cause.../
Iguana Bite Transmits Rare Bacteria to Child
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