One is rarely seen in the United States recently infected with the virus eight people in Wisconsin and Illinois who work in facilities where rats are high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Authorities first became aware of the infections when two people in Wisconsin who operated a rat farm became ill in December 2016, one from going to the hospital. Both breeders have tested positive for the virus in Seoul, part of the Hantavirus family, a group of viruses that normally infect rodents, according to the CDC.
Health officials then discovered that Wisconsin farmers had purchased two breeding facilities from rat rats in Illinois, and tests showed that six people working at the Illinois facility were infected with the same virus.
Seoul virus is known to infect a species of rat known as the Norway rat (also known as the name of the brown rat) worldwide. Sometimes people can get the rat virus Seoul. So far, most human cases of virus in Seoul have occurred in Asia. This is the first time human cases of virus in Seoul have been linked to pet rats in the United States, according to the CDC.
People become infected when they are bitten by infected rats, or when they come into contact with the blood, saliva or urine of infected rats, according to the agency.
The virus can not spread from one person to another and "the public is extremely vulnerable," said Dr. Nirav Shah, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), in a statement. "To be conservative, we want to inform the public if they have recently bought rats from an affected facility and would be bad.
The CDC are working to determine if any other person who bought the rats were infected with Seoul and to ensure that the rats that are infected are not distributed from the facility, the agency said.
People infected with the virus of Seoul can develop fever, severe headaches, abdominal and back pain, chills, blurred vision, redness of the eyes or a rash. However, some people infected with the virus have no symptoms. The eight people infected with the current outbreak have recovered and five of the six people in Illinois who were positive for the virus show no symptoms, said the IDPH. Infected rats usually have no symptoms.
People who have purchased affected rats should contact state or local health departments, the CDC said.
To avoid getting an infection in rats, the CDC said people can take the following precautions with their pets:
Wash your hands after touching or feeding rats or cleaning their cages.
Make sure the rats are properly protected (in a cage), so they do not contaminate the surfaces of your home.
If possible, clean rodent cages and rodent pet supplies out of your home, and never clean cages or animal supplies in your kitchen or other places where food is prepared.
Avoid rodent scratches and scratches.
Take your pet to a veterinarian for routine care to keep the animal healthy and free from disease.
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