>Growing bacterial colonies of botulism might be inherently riskier than day-to-day contact with sick people. Growing bacterial colonies of what's on your tooth

>Growing bacterial colonies of botulism might be inherently riskier than day-to-day contact with sick people. Growing bacterial colonies of what's on your toothbrush just ain't. The difference between petri dishes with what was often a specified bacteria/mold and the bacteria from a person's mouth should be self-evident. As brandmeyer pointed out, the girl may have had bacteria while showing no sign of having an illness (example given was strep throat). Having a small amount of the bacteria and then raising a colony of it could pose some risk of getting others sick.