Or at least wash your hands VERY thoroughly. Turtle owners will hate us for telling you this but, you know, we’re just keeping you informed.  A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study links a recent 34-state, 107-person outbreak of salmonellosis – an infection caused by the bacteria Salmonella – with exposure to small turtles. In the study, “Continuing Risk of Salmonellosis From Small Turtles: Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Infections Associated With Small Turtle Exposure, 2007-2008,” researchers interviewed 78 patients or parents of patients (median patient age, 7) diagnosed with Salmonella during the outbreak. Thirty-three percent of the patients were hospitalized from the potentially fatal illness, and 60 percent reported exposure to a turtle during the week before their illness. Most of the reported turtle exposures were to small turtles less than 4 inches in length.

According to the CDC, children should not be exposed to turtles. In fact, since 1975 the U.S. has banned the sale of small turtles because of Salmonella risks. Despite a federal ban, though, small turtles continue to be sold in the U.S. and pose a health risk. So, see, now you can worry about something other than H1N1.

A recent Mayo Clinic study proves what we’ve been trying to tell you. Reading books, playing games, participating in computer activities and crafting leads to a 30 to 50 percent decrease in the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment in middle age and later life. People who watched television for less than seven hours a day in later years were 50 percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment than those who watched more than seven hours of television per day. Additionally, individuals who participated in social activities and READ MAGAZINES (editor’s note: surely, online magazines are even better) during middle age were about 40 percent less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment than those who did not participate in those activities. The study was presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s Annual Meeting.  Yonas Geda, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neuropsychiatrist and author of this study,  says the research is exciting because it demonstrates that aging doesn’t need to be a passive process. “By simply engaging in cognitive exercise, you can protect against future memory loss,” says Geda. We think it’s exciting because it proves you should be reading Exurb daily and, while it didn’t mention anything about leaving comments, we bet that also keeps you very, very young.