Our Rats Have Tested Negative for dangerous Zoonotic Viruses, but are not RBF-free.

Zoonotic Diseases

Like all animals, rats are capable of carrying infectious agents that can be harmful to people, other pets, or existing rat colonies. Though the risk is low, it is still important to have a proper understanding of the most common agents, the symptoms they may cause, and the methods to best protect yourself from them.

Our Policy

Here at Mini Mischief Rattery, we make it our goal to breed friendly, healthy, and SAFE pets. We do this through both temperament testing and health testing our rattery regularly. The two main areas of health testing are serology testing for viruses and PCR testing for the bacterium Strepptococcus moniliformes (responsible for Rat Bite Fever). We recently completed health testing to ensure that our colony is clear of any dangerous viruses, particularly Seoul, LCMV, Sendai, and SDAV. However, we are unfortunately no longer considered negative for S. moniliformes since we have recently begun seeing positive results in our rattery. While very common in the domestic rat population and very rare to cause issues, this bacteria does still pose a potential health threat and is important for all rat owners to be aware of.

Read below to learn more about Rat Bite Fever and see what we're doing to test for and combat zoonotic diseases in our rattery!

Serology testing

We have completed serology blood testing through Charles River Labs and tested negative for the 3 main zoonotic viruses - Seoul Virus, LCMV, and Sendai virus - as well as SDAV, a virus that can be dangerous to other rats. Viruses our colony tested positive for are mycoplasma pulmonis (MPUL), Car Bacillus (CARB), and Rat Parvovirus (KRV), all of which are common, rodent specific, and of no risk to people, immunocompetent rats, or other pets. In addition, testing positive on serology tests only means they have been exposed in the past and may or may not indicate active viral infection. We have provided more information on the listed viruses below.

Seoul Virus (HANT) - Neg.

Zoonotic. Can cause severe health concerns and even death in humans. Transmitted through contact with feces, urine, and respiratory secretions. Asymptomatic in rats.

Learn More

Our rats have tested negative, so they do not carry this virus.

LCMV - Negative

Zoonotic. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis. Potentially deadly to immunocompromised humans. Transmitted through contact with urine and respiratory secretions. Asymptomatic in rats.

Learn More

Our rats have tested negative, so they do not carry this virus.

Sendai Virus - Negative

Zoonotic. Can cause minor respiratory symptoms in humans. Transmitted through contact

with respiratory secretions. Can be asymptomatic in rats.

Learn More

Our rats have tested negative, so they do not carry this virus.

SDAV - Negative

Sialodacryoadenitis virus. Species Specific. Transmitted through contact with airborne particles and respiratory secretions. Often leads to severe respiratory illnesses and even death in rats. Can be carried asymptomatically.

Our rats have tested negative, so they do not carry this virus.

Myco (MPUL) - Positive

Mycoplasma pulmonis. Specific to Rodents. NO THREAT TO HUMANS.Endemic in pet rat populations. Can cause various respiratory and reproductive effects in immunocompromised rats. Can be asymptomatic in

immunocompetent rats.

Our rats, like all other domestic pet rats, have tested positive for mycoplasma

CAR Bacillus (CARB) - Pos.

Specific to rodents and some livestock species. NO THREAT TO HUMANS. Very common in pet rats. Transmitted through direct contact. Can lead to respiratory illness in immunocompromised rats. Can be asymptomatic in

immunocompetent rats.

Our rats have tested positive for CARB, which is common and of no risk to humans or healthy rats.

Rat Parvovirus (KRV) - Pos.

Species Specific. NO THREAT TO HUMANS. Transmitted through contact with feces, urine, and respiratory secretions. KRV can cause respiratory illness and fertility issues in immunocompromised rats. Generally asymptomatic in

immunocompetent rats.

Our rats have tested positive for KRV, which is very common and no risk to humans or healthy rats.

Anchor 1

Rat Bite Fever (RBF)

Rat Bite Fever is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus moniliformis (SBM). This bacterium is carried by rodents and can be spread to humans through a bite, scratch, or contact with urine and droppings. It is not a new bacteria and is not considered a reportable disease by the CDC. In most cases, this bacterium causes no symptoms or mild symptoms. However, in rare cases, particularly for the very young, very old, or immunocompromised, it can cause severe illness and even death if untreated. If recognized, it can be treated easily with antibiotics. Therefore, it is important to recognize the symptoms if you have pet rodents.

Symptoms Include:

Rat Bite Fever is still not well understood by the scientific community. Prior to 2020, it was believed to be a normal part of all rat's gut flora. Now it is still considered to be "normal" in the sense that it is common and asymptomatic to rats, but not all rats test positive on PCR lab tests. To make matters confusing, there are cases where rats that test negative later become positive without any cross-contamination, as well as cases where rats can test negative after living with positive rats. Some theories as to why this may be include that the bacteria levels might naturally fluctuate throughout a rat's life or that PCR tests aren't always capable of detecting it. It is common in the environment anywhere that wild rodents live. Estimates state that anywhere from 10-100% of the domestic rodent population carry this bacteria (which isn't much help at all!)

PCR Testing

Due to the still-emerging science, many breeders choose not to test for this bacteria and instead simply educate adopters about the risks. This has been the primary policy in the rat breeding community until quite recently. Now, with new testing methods available, many breeders are choosing to test their colonies in attempt to remove the bacteria from the pet population. These methods aren't yet 100% accurate, but they're a great start towards the goal of producing healthier safer pets! Here at Mini Mischief Rattery, we are using testing and selective breeding in an attempt to remove, or at least reduce the amount of, bacteria in our population.

Testing for SBM can be done through PCR lab tests. We regularly swab our breeding colony through Research Associates Laboratory to determine which, if any, of our rats test positive for SBM. While many rats in our colony test negative regularly, we have unfortunately had some positives pop up, especially in elderly rats. While we do our best to only breed rats that have tested negative, due to the confusing nature of the bacteria and how it spreads, we cannot guarantee that rats leaving our rattery are or will remain free of RBF-causing bacteria. Therefore, we still highly encourage all adopters to educate themselves on rat bite fever symptoms and follow proper hygiene habits around their pets (maintaining a clean cage and washing hands after handling).

Fever
Vomiting
Headache
Muscle pain
Joint pain or swelling (about 5 in 10 people with RBF have this)
Rash (occurs in about 3 out of 4 people with RBF)