Visitor behaviour and public health implications associated with exotic pet markets: an observational study

Warwick, Clifford; Arena, Phillip C; Steedman, Catrina

The established nature of amphibians and reptiles as a reservoir of potentially pathogenic zoonotic agents implies that all animals, their containers, seller facilities and the sellers themselves must be regarded as sources of potential contami-nation. The direct and indirect actions and interactions between public attendees and sellers are manifestly capable not only of resulting in acquired infection among attendees, but also of disseminating pathogens among the public and all publicly accessible intermediary surfaces. Indeed, we postulate that it would be reasonable to conclude that within a relatively brief period, all public attendees potentially may be subjected to some level of contamination on their person, whether or not that contamination becomes associated with any episode of disease involving themselves or others. It is also highly unlikely that any method of hygiene control could be practicably implemented in the context of a pet market. Even if comprehensive disinfectant surgical scrub areas were provided with appropriate guidance on contaminant elimination from hands, then this would not offer a reliable solution. Contaminated areas other than hands would remain, and re-contamination of hands and other areas from clothes, people and the environment would likely rapidly re-occur once the person returned to the generalized areas of the pet market and its multifactorial contamination sources. Contamination of clothes and hair, for instance, would also Figure 3 Public health and visitor behaviour at three European markets. The total number of observed visitors was 813 (395 at Expoterraria; 300 at Terraristika; 118 at the IHS Show). Direct = direct contact with an animal; Indirect = indirect contact with an animal (e.g. with container, table, seller). H1 = observed contact between hand and hand (inc mouth); H2 = observed contact between hand and body or clothes; H3 = observed contact between hand and another individual represent a robust contamination source that would persist even after leaving a market and regardless of any hand cleansing.