a gangi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>
>I know Tyzzers can be a big problem for gerbils. It also can be for mice.
>Strangely though, rats though they can be infected and carry this disease,
>rarely ever show any symptoms!
All I can say is that as keepers of rats, mice, gerbils and cavies I can
safely say that gerbils almost never carry infectious illness whereas
for the other species it is a major problem.
Gerbil shows have been held in the UK for thirty years and I know of no
incident of disease picked up at a show. There are several reasons for
this.
1) There are very few infectious diseases and infectious respiratory
illness is practically unknown.
2) The diseases that do exist are passed anus to mouth. This means that
infection normally comes from living on contaminated bedding.
3) All illnesses are very rare. In fourteen years we have never had a
case of any infectious disease affecting our gerbils despite handling
literally thousands of gerbils at literally hundreds of shows. I have
only ever heard about Tyzzer's.
The only infection that has affected our gerbils is ringworm, a fungal
condition, and that was introduced from mice we had taken in to avoid
their being culled.
I accept that the situation in the US may be different, but I doubt
excessive precautions are necessary. As long as people use common sense
disease should not spread.
I accept that all new gerbils, from whatever source, should be
quarantined for at least a week.
--
Julian
************************************************************************
* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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