A Family Outbreak of Salmonellosis Traced to a Pet Turtle

IT is well known that the vast reservoir of salmonella in animals constitutes a major source of salmonellosis for man.1 Recently, such household pets as parakeets,2 chicks and ducklings3 have been incriminated in isolated cases or localized outbreaks of salmonellosis in man. The present report describes a family outbreak of salmonellosis traced to a pet turtle and illustrates the value of the uncommon salmonella serotype as an epidemiologic "tracer." Case Reports and Epidemiologic Investigation The involved family, consisting of a mother and 6 children, had 5 members with stool cultures positive for Salmonella java (also known as Sal. paratyphi B., . . .