Zoo Visitors Get Salmonella After Petting Reptiles At Show

Visitors to a special exhibit at the Denver Zoo may have contracted salmonella from petting reptiles, health officials warned.

Nine salmonella cases have been confirmed from people who touched komodo dragons at a “Dragon Days” exhibit Jan. 11-21 at the zoo, officials from the zoo and the Colorado Department of Public Health said.

Salmonella is a bacterial infection that causes diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever that lasts from 48 hours to a week, said Dr. Richard Hoffman, epidemiologist for the health department.

Zoo spokeswoman Angela Baier said the zoo has stopped all activities that allowed visitors to touch reptiles.

“We’re looking into it and doing everything we can to cooperate,” she said.

In 1991, 22 people in Maryland, Connecticut and Pennsylvania caught a rare form of salmonella similar to that of the Denver-area children after exposure to ducklings.