Hamster kills man

Mr.Sam · 18-04-2008, 01:57 AM

A woman is suing a pet shop chain after her husband died of a hamster virus.
Nancy Magee, from the US, claims PetSmart Inc should have warned customers the rodents carry lymphocytic choriomeningitis, a viral infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

Two other people died of the virus in 2005 after receiving infected organs from the same woman as her husband, Thomas, 54.

The woman was infected by a PetSmart hamster she bought in Rhode Island.
Bruce Richardson, a spokesman for PetSmart, would not comment on the lawsuit, but said the virus is rare.

"It's not a common disease in pets. It's not something that's tested routinely by us or others," Richardson said.

The lawsuit, filed in US District Court last week, said a pathology report on Magee's autopsy lists the cause of death as lymphocytic choriomeningitis.
The virus, which is found in house mice, hamsters and other rodents, usually causes only flu-like symptoms in humans, but can be serious and even fatal in people with compromised immune systems.

In May 2005, the Rhode Island Health Department confirmed that three people died after receiving organs that were infected with the rodent virus: Magee, who had a liver transplant in April 2005, a double-lung recipient from Massachusetts and a kidney transplant recipient from Rhode Island. Magee died a month later.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article...7&in_page_id=2