Rare Rat Virus Infects About 8 People In Wisconsin And Illinois; Puts People In Worry

A very rare virus has infected almost eight people in Illinois and Wisconsin. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the virus affected the people who were working at facilities where the rats are bred. The incident was first reported to the CDC when two people who worked at the pet rat breeding facilities suddenly fell ill in December 2016.

The condition of one of the workers was so serious that one of them had to be rushed to the hospital. However, both of the workers were tested positive for the Seoul virus. Now, according to Yahoo News, the virus belongs to the Hantavirus family. It is one of those rare viruses that mainly infects rodents. When traced back the roots of the virus, the health officials found that breeders had bought these rats from two different rat breeding facilities in Illinois.

Interestingly, apart from the two workers at the Wisconsin rat breeding facility, six workers of the Illinois rat breeding facilities were also tested positive for the Seoul virus. The Seoul virus is a rare virus that mainly affects a particular species of rats, known as the Norway or brown rats. Even though the virus attacks rodents mostly, often humans get affected by it. According to Fox News, till date, most cases of humans getting affected by the Seoul virus occurred mainly in Asia. This is the first case of Seoul virus affecting health workers in the United States.

As per CDC, people get infected  with the Seoul virus if they are bitten by rats or they come in contact with the blood, urine or saliva of the infected rats. The virus doesn't spread from one person to another. Due to this reason, the risk of common people getting affected by it is extremely low.  CDC is also working hard to find out if any person who has bought rats from the facilities have fallen ill. Apart from this, the CDC has requested people who have bought rats from  affected breeders to contact state or local health departments.