Let’s face it: Kids and germs just go together. Babies put dropped pacifiers in their mouths. Toddlers share sippy cups and juice boxes with each other. Preschoolers use their hands instead of a Kleenex and cough with their mouths wide open. And children of all ages seem to attract bad bugs everywhere they go. Petting zoos are no exception. They’ve been responsible for major outbreaks of E. coli 0157. The microbes invade when traces of animal feces from a pet’s fur or saliva innocently get on your child’s hands and into her mouth. Farm animals have been known to lie in their own droppings or ingest their own poop.

Germ defense: When you’re visiting a petting zoo, a farm or a farm exhibit, remind your child not to put his hand in his mouth after petting the animals. To play it safe, though, don’t bring a child younger than 3. “They’re more likely to suck their thumb or automatically put their hands in their mouths, no matter how much you warn them not to. Warn older children not to touch the animals and then their mouths,” says Andrew Nowalk, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Tempted to use hand sanitizer or disinfecting hand wipes each time your child touches a pet? “That’s overkill,” Dr. Nowalk says. If do you bring your toddler, keep her pacifier or sippy cup in the car; using either have been associated with petting-zoo-instigated illness. Before you leave, make sure your child washes her hands at the petting zoo’s hand-washing station with soap and water or with hand sanitizer for the recommended 20 seconds. For more information, see the CDC's "Stay healthy at animal exhibits this summer."