I’ve written about lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) before, as an interesting but pretty uncommon rodent-associated disease. Human infections are mainly associated with handling rodents, although other routes of transmission, such as organ transplantation from an infected donor, have also been reported. Being a disease associated with rodents and considering how rodents are produced in North
G-force and zoonotic disease
It seems like whenever a hit TV show or movie features an animal, there’s concern about the "101 Dalmatians effect," whereby there’s a mad rush to get the animal for a pet. When 101 Dalmatians was a hit movie, there was a huge spike in sales of this rather unusual breed – a
Pet store sued after hamster-associated death
A woman whose husband died of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) infection is suing a pet store. The suit alleges that a hamster purchased at the store was the source of infection of a person, who subsequently suffered a fatal stroke (unrelated to the infection). The hamster-owner’s liver was donated to the Plaintiff’s husband, who