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Wild iguana steals little girl’s cake and infects her with a rare bacterial infection

An iguana wrecked a 3-year-old girl’s vacation in Costa Rica in more ways than one. According to the girl’s doctors, the scaly snake took her cake but not before biting her hand and transmitting a rare bacterial infection that lasted months. 

Doctors will report the unusual case later this month at the annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Still, details were made accessible to the public last week as a special early release.

Iguana Infects Girl With Rare Disease

The iguana approached the girl and bit the back of her left middle finger, prompting her to let go of the cake. The reptile then bolted with the feast, but not before leaving something behind.

The cut appeared slight, but they transported the kid to a nearby clinic, where medics cleansed it with alcohol and gave her medicines for five days.In about two weeks, the wound looked to have healed. Only five months later did her parents observe a dime-sized bump on the girl’s hand in the same location.

When the bump became larger and began to cause moderate pain, her parents took her to an orthopedist. The 2-centimeter lump was removed by the doctor. Scientists examined the growth in the lab and discovered that the child had an uncommon infection with Mycobacterium marinum, a non-tuberculous mycobacterium that causes a tuberculosis-like sickness in fish more regularly.

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Mycobacterium Marinum

a-wild-iguana-steals-a-little-girls-cake-and-infects-her-with-a-rare-bacterial-infection
An iguana wrecked a 3-year-old girl’s vacation in Costa Rica in more ways than one. According to the girl’s doctors, the scaly snake took her cake but not before biting her hand and transmitting a rare bacterial infection that lasted months.

Mycobacterium Marinum belongs to the same bacterial family that causes tuberculosis and leprosy in humans. It is known to cause tuberculosis-like sickness in fish and to cause skin infections in people on occasion. These human cases, on the other hand, have often been linked to swimming or contact with contaminated fish. 

According to the doctors, this is the first known case of M. Marinum caught as a result of an iguana bite. According to the report’s authors, some research has revealed that pet reptiles typically have non-tuberculosis mycobacteria. Given their natural characteristics, it’s not surprising that iguanas may contain the bacteria.

Mycobacteria infections are notoriously difficult to treat, especially M. Many medications, including amoxicillin, are known to be resistant to marinum. 

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