A virus from a rat bite rarely seen in rodents in the United States have recently infected eight people in Wisconsin and Illinois. The victims were working in facilities where pet rats are bred the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.CDC also says that this is the first known outbreak of the virus also known as the Seoul virus which is carried by pet rats in the United States, although there already have been more than one outbreaks in wild rats.
Seoul virus is from the Hantavirus family of rodent-borne diseases and is carried by wild Norway rats worldwide. So far, majority of the human cases of the virus have occurred in Asia. This is the first time that human Seoul virus have been associated with pet rats in the United States, the CDC said.
According to the CBC , symptoms of the infection include fever, severe headache, back and abdominal pain, chills, eye redness and rash. In extreme cases, it can lead to kidney disorders. According to the CDC, most people infected with the virus recover.Currently, they are working with state and local health officials to figure out the origin of the outbreak.
Authorities were first alerted of the virus when two people in Wisconsin fell ill after operating a rat-breeding facility in December 2016. Both breeders tested positive for Seoul virus. Health officials then traced the origin of the rats from two rat-breeding facilities in Illinois, and tests showed that six people who operated the Illinois facilities were also sick with the same virus, the Live Science says.
Infection occurs when people are bitten by infected rats, or when they touch the blood, saliva or urine of infected rats.The virus cannot spread from person to person, and "therefore, the general public is at extremely low risk," Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), says. Infections that alarm the public with outbreaks are not uncommon recently and health officials are warning people to take precautions against a rat bite.
