Experts say exotic pets such as reptiles and monkeys should be discouraged in homes with small children or people with immune system problems, as they pose a health risk.
Paediatrician Dr. Larry Pickering of Emory University Medical School in Atlanta says exotic pets are growing in popularity but while doctors are aware of pet-related hazards, only 5% regularly educate parents and children about such dangers.
Dr. Pickering says in a report for the American Academy of Paediatrics, that this is an attitude that must change because most non-traditional pets pose a risk to the health of young children, and their acquisition and ownership should be discouraged in households with young children.
According to the American Academy of Paediatrics young children should not keep hedgehogs, hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles as pets because of risks for disease.
Dr. Pickering says most reptiles carry salmonella bacteria and the potential problems range from allergies to the spread of infectious diseases.
About 11% of salmonella illnesses in children are thought to originate from contact with lizards, turtles and other reptiles and hamsters can also carry this germ, which can cause severe diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps.
Salmonella also has been found in baby chicks, and young children can get it by kissing or touching the animals and then putting their hands in their mouths.
The report says hedgehogs too can be dangerous because their quills can penetrate skin and have been known to spread a bacteria germ that can cause fever, stomach pain and a rash.
In 2003 an outbreak of monkeypox affected around 20 people in the U.S. midwest, and was eventually traced to imported Gambian pouched rats.
The report says parents need to be educated about the increased risks of exposure to non-traditional pets and animals in public settings for infants and for children under 5, such as petting zoos, and for people with immune system problems.