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17/01/21/1324228 story

Pet Rats Linked to U.S. Outbreak of Seoul Virus

posted by martyb on Saturday January 21 2017, @10:36PM   
from the should-also-beware-the-wild-rats dept.

takyon writes:

Exposure to pet rats has led to an outbreak of Seoul virus in Illinois and Wisconsin:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Friday that pet rats are the source of an outbreak of Seoul virus infections in Illinois and Wisconsin. The virus has been confirmed in eight patients in an ongoing investigation. The recent cases are "the first human cases we've seen in the United States associated with pet rats," said Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, a veterinarian and deputy division director for CDC's division of high consequent pathogens and pathology. Several previous outbreaks reported in the US occurred in wild rats.

Also at CBC. Illinois Department of Public Health statement.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a Seoul Virus FAQ.

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Original Submission

• Comment Below Threshold

  Pets should be outlawed Pets should be outlawed (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 21 2017, @11:02PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 21 2017, @11:02PM (#457132)

  It is not necessary to have pets to live, and they may endanger society. There is no reason not to have laws against pet ownership (or at least large fees and fines to discourage it).

  • Re:Pets should be outlawed (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday January 22 2017, @12:00AM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday January 22 2017, @12:00AM (#457159) Homepage

    As somebody who has owned many rodents as pets, I must say that rats are the smartest and cleanest of them all -- when they get big they can take over entire cities, as in New York City -- . In fact, maybe I'll get another one sometime. They're not all wobbly and delicate-feeling like hamsters and Guinea Pigs and especially chinchillas and they have that wicked-cool textured tail.

    But like many disease scares in America, like swine flu and bird flu, this one is also bullshit.

    Parent

• oblig. oblig. (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 21 2017, @11:28PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 21 2017, @11:28PM (#457145)

  And so it begins... Red states first of course...

  • Re:oblig. (Score: 2) by butthurt on Sunday January 22 2017, @12:04AM

    by butthurt (6141) on Sunday January 22 2017, @12:04AM (#457160) Journal

    Now what begins? And Illinois went Democratic in the 1992 presidential election as well as every one since.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_state-blue_state_divide#Table_of_presidential_elections_by_states_since_1972 [wikipedia.org]

    Parent

• Comment Below Threshold

  Kike rats (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 22 2017, @11:57AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 22 2017, @11:57AM (#457308)

  There is another kind of rat, the kike, that takes over human morality and makes human life worth nothing.