Nurses need to be aware of the risks posed to children and others by exotic animals and pets in the home and in public settings, say both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the authors of a recent report in Pediatrics. Infections such as salmonellosis, cryptosporidiosis, plague, and rabies, as well as Escherichia coli, can be transmitted by seemingly healthy nontraditional pets. (The authors define nontraditional pets as imported nonnative species or originally nonnative species now being bred in the United States; indigenous wildlife; and the offspring of domestic animals crossbred with wildlife.) Children younger than age five, people with primary or secondary immunodeficiencies, pregnant women, and older adults are especially at risk for severe illness. Nurses should educate pet owners, parents, and children about measures that can help them avoid illness, and a history of contact with both pets and other animals should be included in every well-child exam and suspected infectious disease evaluation. Households with young children should be discouraged from owning nontraditional pets. To read "Exposure to Nontraditional Pets at Home and to Animals in Public Settings: Risks to Children," visit http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/122/4/876. More information can also be found at http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets.

Fast Facts

Nearly 12% of deaths among Native Americans and Alaska natives between 2001 and 2005 were linked to alcohol, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports-twice the rate of the general U.S. population. Of that total, the leading causes of death were alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and alcoholic liver disease. For more information, go to http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5734a3.htm.

Arthritis caused 754,000 hospitalizations in 2006, more than twice the number in 1993, reported the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Women accounted for 75% of hospital stays for rheumatoid arthritis and 62% of stays for osteoarthritis. For more information, go to http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/factsandfigures/HAR_2006.pdf.