Lassa fever is a serious illness caused by a virus that is common in parts of West Africa, including Nigeria. The virus mainly lives in a type of rat called the multimammate rat, which is very common in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People usually get Lassa fever when they come into contact with the pee, poop, spit, or blood of infected rats. This can happen in a few ways. One way is by eating food or drinking water that has been touched by these rats. It can also spread by breathing in tiny particles from the rats\u2019 waste, especially in places where these rats are everywhere. Sometimes, people get infected by touching or handling rats directly, like during pest control or food preparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, pets like cats and dogs might also be at risk. This can happen if they catch or eat infected rats. Pets can also get the virus from being in places that have been dirtied by rats. Some studies in Nigeria even found that dogs might carry the Lassa virus, which means the virus might spread more easily than we thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though it\u2019s rare, it is possible. If you touch a pet that has been in contact with the virus\u2014especially if they\u2019ve hunted rats\u2014you could get infected. Also, if a pet\u2019s saliva or waste touches something you later touch, it could spread the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To stay safe, it\u2019s important to keep rats away from your home. Block holes where rats could enter, keep your house clean, and store your food in sealed containers. Make sure your pets don\u2019t go hunting or eat dead animals. Also, always wash your hands after playing with your pets or cleaning their things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking these steps can help protect you, your family, and your pets from Lassa fever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udc3e\u2764\ufe0f For professional help with your pet\u2019s health and safety, reach out to us at Doctor Hulk Veterinary Hospital<\/strong>. To reach out, you can click here. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lassa fever is a serious illness caused by a virus that is common in parts of West Africa, including Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-petopedia"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Doctor Hulk","author_link":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/author\/1x-doctorhulk-x1\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Petopedia<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Lassa fever is a serious illness caused by a virus that is common in parts of West Africa, including Nigeria.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29213,"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28999\/revisions\/29213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorhulk.com\/zoopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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