The live trade in wild animals can increase the risk of escape of exotic animals, introduce invasive species, spread zoonotic diseases, over-exploit wild populations, and harm animal welfare. Trade in exotic pets is a particularly understudied issue in Canada. We propose a conceptual framework for how exotic pet influencers directly and indirectly contribute to increased demand for exotic pets through opinion leadership, sharing information on where to buy exotic pets, and normalising exotic pet ownership. We suggest that it is important to raise public awareness among social media users about the challenges associated with wildlife trade, including animal welfare considerations, and the links between exotic pet trade and conservation.

Pets and exotic animals are increasingly popular all over the world. Some of these animals may cause injuries to their owners or other people during interactions. Both injuries and systemic infections always present diagnosis and treatment challenges. The key recommendations are for parents or childminders to always supervise children when interacting with animals, be particularly cautious, and wear some form of protection when handling pets and domestic, exotic animals.

Pathogen outbreaks mostly originate from animals, but some species are more likely to trigger epi- demics. The giant land snail (Lissachatina fulica) is a widespread invader, a popular exotic pet, and a notorious vector of the rat lungworm, causing eosinophilic meningitis in humans. However, a comprehensive assessment of the risks of disease outbreak associated with this species is lacking.

Wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry and concerns not only the exploi- tation of animals for their body parts but is also largely fueled by the demand for exotic pets. We document, in Japan, a recent phenomenon closely related to the pet trade and rapidly spreading in Asia: the display of exotic animals in a café/bar context. We argue that these cafés promoted through social media: (1) might have consequences for biodiversity as they encourage the purchase of exotic animals and represent a pool of potentially invasive species with their pathogens; (2) present a risk of pathogen transmission due to frequent close interactions with consumers; and (3) raise serious concerns about animal welfare.

As people and a wide variety of animal species have increasingly close contact in diverse settings, guidance on preventing zoonotic diseases, caused by pathogens that spread between animals and people, is urgently needed. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), three major groups of animals have repeatedly been associated with local, regional, and national outbreaks of zoonotic diseases in people in the United States: rodents, backyard poultry, and reptiles. This Compendium presents information on these and other non-traditional pet animal species associated with a high risk of zoonotic disease transmission in any setting.