2 replies to this topic

[LifeOfMyPetsandMe]

I’m getting extremely worried, there’s a listeria (fatal food-borne virus) outbreak that is in TONS of salads at the current moment, the salad we’ve been feeding our guinea pigs are one of the brands listed to NOT USE AT ALL and we’ve been feeding it to them since the news of the outbreak came out and I’m worried, I’ve been feeding this salad to them and I’ve been touching and been exposed to the contents of this salad and am worried for my guinea pigs and my family and when stuff like this happens I really begin to panic because I don’t want my guinea pigs to die nor do I want any of my family to die, and I’m really worried and dunno what to do, we already threw the salad away but I’m still scared and worried what may happen. Can guinea pigs catch listeria? Can they die from it? Am I gonna be okay? I haven’t eaten any of the salads I use for them, however I have touched and been exposed to being around the salad and have used it. I’m really worried and I don’t wanna lose my guinea pigs or family at all, the guinea pigs so young :(

[Robin~]

Hello!

I would suggest asking this on a guinea pig oriented forum like The Guinea Pig Forum. While we do have a couple guinea pig owners on here, I don’t think you’ll get nearly as many opinions here as you would there.

In any case, I’d say the general protocol for something like this would be to closely monitor your pets for any signs of illness (lethargy, atypical behavior, etc) and contact your vet if you think something is wrong.

It can be scary to have your pets exposed to something like this; I’m so sorry you’re having to go through it! Best wishes and I hope this works out for your loved ones.

[daisy~]

I don't know about the guinea pigs, but unless you or anyone in your family is pregnant or very immunocompromised, listeria is not something to be too worried about. When a healthy person who isn't pregnant is exposed to listeria, they don't usually get ill, and if they do it's a fairly mild illness. The reason listeria contamination of things like salads is a big deal is because it can be very dangerous in pregnancy (mostly to the baby) and elderly people or people with compromised immune systems can sometimes get very ill from it.