Pet-related death is always sad news to report, and this is no exception: a young girl, only three weeks old, died after catching salmonella from her pet turtle last March 1 - her death joining the 22 other cases of infection from reptiles across the United States since September. This report comes directly from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Febrile and going into septic shock, the infant was taken quickly to a Florida hospital, where she received immediate treatment in the form of antibiotics. Unfortunately, it was far too late.

Cultures of cerebrospinal fluid and blood samples taken afterward revealed a strain of salmonella identical to the one carried by girl's pet turtle, the reptile a gift bought from a flea market.

While certainly shocking news, cases like these involving small turtles doesn't seem at all new - in fact, a law that dates back to 1975 bans the sale of turtles with carapaces no bigger than 10 centimetres, or four inches. The pet turtle in this case only measured about 3.2 centimetres, which is really under the 10 cm limit.

Why the ban? Is there a larger chance of getting infected when turtles are still as small as they are? You'd be surprised to know that not only that is enough reason for the ban, but the fact that they look so much like toys - and can be mishandled by children as such - is reason for the law. Infants do have that tendency of chewing on their toys, and a small squirming turtle would look pretty inviting. Plus, with infants and small children not having fully-developed immune systems at their age, salmonella could prove fatal.

Looking at the case, however, it may not be all the turtle's fault. Proper hygiene and good parenting would have prevented this sort of thing from happening easily, with Mum or Dad washing the kid's hands after every playtime with the turtle. And whatever happened to the hard and fast rule of not giving kids toys small enough for them to put into their mouths? Certainly not a good way to instill good habits to your kids.

So remember, children. Wash your hands after handling your pets.