As tempting as it is to give our pets a lil’ smooch when we see them, it’s probably not a great idea if that pet happens to be a bearded dragon. That’s because there’s currently a multistate Salmonella outbreak in the US and it’s been linked back to the otherwise lovely lizards.

The outbreak of a strain known as Salmonella Cotham appears to have begun in January this year. Since then, 15 people have been reported as infected across nine different states, although the true number of infections may be much higher – lots of people who get sick with Salmonella recover and don’t get tested for it. 

However, four people have been hospitalized with the illness, though no deaths have been reported.

When it comes to outbreaks like this, public health officials often use a technique called whole genome sequencing to identify the genetic fingerprint of the bacteria causing the illness. In this case, it suggested that everybody had got sick from closely related bacteria.

These bacteria were also related to a strain that had previously caused an outbreak from 2012 to 2014 – and that had been linked to bearded dragon exposure.

During interviews with 12 of the infected people, seven of them reported having been in contact with a bearded dragon in the week before they got sick. Though in one case, it’s thought a reptile roaming free in the house led to indirect exposure, in the majority, this involved caring for the animals, such as touching them, cleaning out their enclosures, and feeding them.

“Bearded dragons can carry Salmonella germs in their droppings even if they look healthy and clean,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “You can get sick from touching your bearded dragon or anything in its environment and then touching your mouth or food and swallowing Salmonella.”

It’s a major reason why bearded dragons aren’t recommended as pets for people with weakened immune systems, those aged over 65, and children younger than 5 – 60 percent of the reported infections were in kids of that age group.

That advice isn’t necessarily because young children aren’t always the best at hand hygiene, but because these groups are more likely to become seriously ill from a Salmonella infection. For most people, however, recovery comes after 4 to 7 days of some pretty unpleasant symptoms like diarrhea and fever. 

The CDC has recommended steps to try and prevent further instances of infection, such as washing your hands after handling a bearded dragon or touching their enclosure and not letting them roam freely where young children might crawl or play.

It’s also advised not to snuggle or kiss them, and as hard as that may be when they are thoroughly adorable, that goes for plenty of other pets too.