hila <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>so what you are saying is that there are diseases that gerbils can pass on
>to humans ?
>I thought there aren't any , and when I asked the list about that a week ago
>I got replies that there are no diseases that people can get from gerbils ,
>only stuff that gerbils can pass to each other .
>I am kind of confused now ...
>because if there are , I will think twice about owning gerbils .. you see ?
>
>thanks ,
>hila .
E.coli and Listeria are diseases any animal can have. Which is why I did
not mention them when you asked specifically about gerbil diseases. If
you want a complete list of diseases you can catch from anywhere then
you will get a very long list.
I mentioned E. coli and Listeria because they are the sort of diseases
that can account for mysterious deaths amongst gerbils that can last for
some time and can be difficult to eradicate. One reason can be that
apparently healthy animals can be a source of infection.
If your gerbils are healthy, and you follow normal hygiene precautions,
such as washing your hands after handling your gerbils (as you should do
with any pet) then you are not likely to catch anything.
Here is a warning on Listeria -
http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/9902/htm/listeria.htm
And here is a couple of pages on E. coli -
http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~jbrown/ecoli.html
http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/headline/htm/hw000525.htm
--
Julian
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Gerbil Society
http://www.gerbils.co.uk/
