Animals at petting zoos and agricultural fairs can be carriers of pathogens, such as Escherichia coli. Disease outbreaks at animal contact exhibits can be prevented by handwashing after contact with animals and keeping food and beverage away from exhibits. This research procedure and code book accompanies the data set, Animal Contact Exhibits_Legal Epidemiology Dataset_2016, which catalogs and analyzes a collection of state hand sanitation laws for the following categories of animal contact exhibits: a. Petting zoos b. Agricultural fairs c. County or state fairs d. Exotic animal exhibits e. Circuses f. Zoos

Tags: animal contact exhibit, petting zoo, agricultural fair, county or state fair, exotic animals, circus, zoo, infectious disease, zoonotic disease, legal epidemiology