4-Year-Old Girl Contracts Rare Bacterial Infection from Iguana

An unexpected guest stole a piece of cake from Lena Mars while she sat on the beach in Costa Rica, and the injury led to a year-long scientific study

A quick snack break at the beach during a family vacation turned into a year-long scientific study for a California family.

Lena Mars, 4, and her parents, Julian and Luisa, were on a trip to Costa Rica in March 2022 when they stopped for a snack and were attacked by local wildlife, CNN reported.

While Lena nibbled on a slice of cake, an iguana ran up to her, bit her finger, and stole the snack from her, the outlet reported. Her parents brought her to a clinic in the area, where the wound was disinfected and she was prescribed antibiotics, according to Dr. Jordan Mah, a medical microbiology expert who is presenting Lena's case to the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases this month.

The cut on her hand healed quickly, but five months later a dime-sized bump appeared on her hand in the same spot where the iguana bit her. When what was initially a painless bump that her pediatrician believed to be a harmless cyst morphed into a larger, more painful growth.

In November 2022, an orthopedist removed and biopsied the 2-centimeter mass, CNN reported, and after taking a closer look at it, discovered that the iguana bite had given Lena a bacterial infection rarely seen in humans. The mycobacterium marinum commonly infects fish, but when it infects humans, it typically starts when a wound is exposed to the bacteria in water.

"Typically, with these infections, because they take a very long time to grow and they're a little bit more fastidious, you need to treat them for a longer period of time, sometimes several months," Mah told CNN.

He said he believes this is the first time a human has ever gotten an infection of this kind from an iguana bite. Part of his intention with presenting the case this month at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases is to spread awareness about the possibility of such infections. While he said there's a lot scientists know about "animal bites and bacteria," that's not the case for lizards — "let alone iguana."

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Despite the rarity, Mah said that Lena is recovering well. "She's doing better. I wouldn't say 100%, but she's doing a lot better than she was initially."

In a statement shared with CNN, the Mars family provided an update on their daughter's progress more than a year after the bite.

"Our daughter, Lena, just celebrated her 4th birthday and is still recovering from the surgery in November. The wound is just closing, and the whole healing process has taken more strength than the bite itself," the statement said. "Lena is the bravest child we can imagine, and she is handling the situation pretty well. She definitely remembers the bite and knows that the bacteria came from the iguana. She will probably never forget the experience, but we hope that someday we can all laugh about what happened."

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While the iguana's behavior was atypical, it's likely that the animal had been fed by tourists before, according to Anna Meyer, operations manager at Florida reptile zoo Iguanaland.

"Typically, they will go about their day and not want to bother anyone or be bothered by anyone," Meyer told CNN. "But like any wildlife, if they start associating people with food, they're going to risk coming closer."

Iguanas — which are common in Costa Rica and have become a somewhat invasive species in areas of Texas, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and south Florida, per CNN — are herbivores who primarily spend time in the sun eating fruits and leaves. This one, it seems, developed a sweet tooth.

"That's an animal who's just become accustomed to people providing it with food," Meyer told the outlet.

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