Question from new rat owner in Vermont

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Corinna Bridges

New Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2019
Messages
2
Location
VT, USA
Hello All,

My family has just welcomed 2, 5-week old boy rats into our home (Acorn and Spots). While myself and the kids are thrilled, my husband is very concerned about the spread of disease to one of our children (we have 3). I grew up with rats as pets and never suffered any illness because of them. As a parent, however, my husband’s concerns are starting to worry me. How common is the spread of diseases such as hantavirus, leptospirosis, or rat bite/scratch fever, etc to humans from pet rats? Any advice appreciated. Thanks!
 
Domestic rats are bred to not have any illnesses including one's that spread to humans.! You sadly cannot breed mycoplasma fully out of a rat but you can't get sick from that. Wild rats rarely transmit diseases to humans so the likely hood of getting sick is extremely low. There obviously have been cases but I've been bitten by one of my rats multiple times(my fault not hers) and I always get scratched up.! I've never had any problems.! I hope this information helps and congrats on the new additions.!
 
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