Illness Transmission to Torts

[Oxalis]

Apologies if this is silly, but just curious if humans can pass along their common colds to their torts? We all know the dangers of acquiring Salmonella from the tortoise, so I wondered if there were any human illnesses that pose a threat to tortoises? It never occurred to me until now that I have a cold.

 

[JoesMum]

Apologies if this is silly, but just curious if humans can pass along their common colds to their torts? We all know the dangers of acquiring Salmonella from the tortoise, so I wondered if there were any human illnesses that pose a threat to tortoises? It never occurred to me until now that I have a cold.

Not that I am are of

 

[Rue]

No...me either. The common cold is a human disease as far as I know.

But you can pass Salmonella to your tortoise...that bacteria will go both ways...that's why it's recommended that you wash your hands both before and after handling the animal...

 

[TortoiseWarrior]

Not that Im aware of either.

 

[Pearly]

Viral illnesses tend to be species specific so to speak. I.e. you may recall the big discussion about HIV virus that historically affected monkeys... Until one day, it decided to cross over... to Homo sapiens ... giving us AIDS epidemic. Bacterial infections go across the board. Parasites often use animals as vectors of transmission. That's in extremely simplistic terms, but I think that logically it makes sense.

 

[Oxalis]

Cool, thanks for the feedback, all!