Salmonella Concerns

Bad Press
Bearded Dragons were labeled as a cause of a small Salmonella occurrence in the United States in early 2014. There are many articles out there, especially from mothers (who do not own a bearded dragon) telling parents not to buy bearded dragons as pets for their children because they are not safe. As a mother of a young boy of course I have concerns about my son's health. I put sun screen on him, use organic cleaners and probably worry about kidnapping more than a normal person. I also have more dragons than you can count in my house (due to hatching babies) and my son helps me care to them and handles them daily. I honestly can't believe anyone would take these articles seriously. I have bred dragons for years, they are part of my family. I hug, kiss, cuddle with them and let them wander my house. This fear mongering is going to do nothing but cause dragon's their current and future loving homes. Let me state for the record that no one in my home, nor anyone that has come to visit, has every had Salmonella caused by our dragons, period. I believe that if you properly clean your dragon and its enclosure this 'potential' concern is nothing to worry about.
Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Assuming the salmonella outbreaks are caused by dragons use your heads, unless we are ALL sick it is not ALL dragons. And you have to clean and disinfect, when dealing with the feces of any animal.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/salmonella-outbreak-linked-to-bearded-dragons/
Below are the yearly lists by the CDC for Salmonella Outbreaks, apparently people should also be concerned when eating cantaloupe, ground beef, chicken, peanut butter not just having a bearded dragon.
http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/index.html
This is a statement from the CDC website regarding Salmonella outbreaks. People are causing worry over 132 not confirmed cases out of 1,200,000 that occur every year. That is 0.011%. Do the math here, your child is more likely to get Salmonella from their chicken nuggets or their PB&J sandwich.
MAY HAVE not HAVE they don't even have 100% proof it just happens to be that in some of the cases they owned or held a bearded dragon.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/salmonella-outbreak-linked-to-bearded-dragons/
Look at all the other animals listed in the clipping here that can carry Salmonella. Please take note; it is that they CAN carry it not that they DO. 
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2014/04/25/bearded-dragons-seen-as-salmonella-source
Defend Your Dragon
I challenge all Bearded Dragon lovers to comment on every single article online that they see regarding this. Be intelligent, not use bad language, express yourself with love and pride. People will be showing these articles to their friends and family so make sure your comments are there to argue against this "outbreak" of fear and ignorance. Many dragons could lose their homes over this nonsense. For people considering a Bearded Dragon as a pet in the future, keep your dragon and its home clean, and wash your hands, it's really that simple.