The CDC expressed concern that sales of baby turtles were on the increase, despite the 1975 federal "Four-Inch Law," that forbids the sale of turtles with a carapace length of less than four 4 inches.
Small turtles were once popular pets in the U.S. until the Food and Drug Administration determined that they were causing serious illness in children.
"Salmonella can be transmitted to humans by direct or indirect contact with a turtle or its feces. No reliable methods are available to guarantee that a turtle is free of Salmonella. Most turtles are colonized with Salmonella and shed the bacteria intermittently in their feces," the CDC said in its weekly report on death and disease.
On March 1, the baby was taken to a Florida emergency room with fever and septic shock despite treatment with antibiotics the baby died, Fox News reported.
Tests on bacteria taken from the baby showed it matched a strain found in a turtle given to the infant's family by a friend.
The CDC tracked down 15 other people infected with similar-looking strains of Salmonella in 2006 and 2007. The agency found that 80 percent of them had direct or indirect contact with a turtle in the week before they became ill.
"These cases illustrate that small turtles remain a source of human Salmonella infections," the CDC said.
