Recent study on Tokay Geckos and Salmonella

There was a recent study posted on Scientific American’s 60-Second Science blog titled Of Pathogens and Pets: Tokay Gecko Harbors 10 Types of Salmonella. This article explains research that has been conducted with 150 tokay geckos, finding that 60% tested positive for carrying Salmonella.

It seems that people are focused against reptiles lately. With the U.S. government pushing down to take away reptile keeper’s rights and studies being published such as this, the question must be asked:  Is there a connection between the increase in anti-reptile articles and the prevalence of anti-reptile legislation in the United States?

Diving into the article

The article is a very  interesting read. It describes the tokay gecko as ‘adorable’ a term neither I nor most keepers would use. 🙂 The article then compares the danger of salmonella in reptiles to an outbreak of monkey-pox transmitted by a rat. I find it interesting that a mammal is compared to a reptile, as mammals carry a much greater amount of diseases that are transferable to humans than reptiles. It is hard not to sense bias as I read the article, or maybe it is just not a full understanding of what they are saying.

Recent Reptile Legislation

You have to have been living under a rock not to hear of all the recent legislation that is geared towards stopping the reptile hobby. It seems each month a new bill is brought to light that risks the future of reptiles in captivity. I fear that with these bills going through congress, articles showing the negative sides of reptiles will become all too common. What can we do? Stand strong together, support local reptile organizations such as USARK, and participate in the reptile community.

What do you think?

What do you think about these ideas? What is your opinion? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section!

Photo by Flickr user cairnz.