What are the health and safety risks to people from keeping exotic pets?
Many exotic pets are capable of injuring or poisoning their keepers and, depending on the species, these incidents can range from minor to life-threatening¹. A far greater problem, however, is the threat of exotic animal-related infections. Exotic
pets carry germs that can spread to people. Close contact with exotic animals in the home creates many opportunities for pet keepers and others around them to become infected.
Some people are more vulnerable than others to infection, e.g.
children under five, pregnant women, the elderly and those who are already ill, but healthy people are also affected. Exotic pet keeping causes thousands of cases of human illness annually in the UK and occasional deaths². Read more here about
minimising the infection risk from exotic pets.
