! RodentPro - Official Statement from company

[Tekpc007]

Bad Guy RodentPro- Zoonotic disease warning - FaunaClassifieds

Not good , Just a FYI...from the thread posted.

The CDC was looking for people who had purchased rodents from Rodent Pro, particularly in May of this year.
Rodent Pro rodents were found to be diseased with Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, which is a zoonotic disease with potentially serious consequences, especially to those who are immune suppressed and pregnant women. You can google this disease and see the CDC information about it.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by Tekpc007

Bad Guy RodentPro- Zoonotic disease warning - FaunaClassifieds

Not good , Just a FYI...from the thread posted.

The CDC was looking for people who had purchased rodents from Rodent Pro, particularly in May of this year.
Rodent Pro rodents were found to be diseased with Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, which is a zoonotic disease with potentially serious consequences, especially to those who are immune suppressed and pregnant women. You can google this disease and see the CDC information about it.

I will contact them before I say a word.

I advertise and do business with Rodent Pro, so I will go straight to them before I react.

[Wildside]

Originally Posted by infernalis

I will contact them before I say a word.

I advertise and do business with Rodent Pro, so I will go straight to them before I react.

Way to lead Good Sir! I take everything I read on fauna lightly. Their BOI is infiltrated with wimps and trolls.

[Tekpc007]

Well i would read the thread , several of their employees were infected . It would be good to know the truth and if its legit , then shame on them for not informing their customers. They will likeley be sued so are being very hush hush about it. Just trying to help , alot of people store their rodents in the freezer with people food which could be an issue.

[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by Tekpc007

Well i would read the thread , several of their employees were infected . It would be good to know the truth and if its legit , then shame on them for not informing their customers. They will likeley be sued so are being very hush hush about it. Just trying to help , alot of people store their rodents in the freezer with people food which could be an issue.

I got my last order from them around May. All i know is i keep all of mine in a plastic tub separated from every thing else and non of us have been sick. I am the only one that even touches them. Just like with my snakes i use hand sanitizer before and after. I only have enough for one more feeding. I was thinking about ordering more, but i think i'll hold off for now. My buddy Shawn been getting his from a couple who breeds rats if need be i'll get some from them.


I also think i am going to get a second freezer just for my rats.

[Becky Goings]

If the CDC's website lists investigations, which they should if they're looking for people who were potentially exposed, this isn't true. There's nothing on the CDC's website about RodentPro. And, the call to get rid of frozen rodents is off base. The virus likely couldn't survive the host dying, much less the freezing. Do we wash our hands or use sanitizer? Of course. It's good common sense.

[hylia]

I don't do business with this company and I am in no position to have an opinion on whether this may be true or not. But, this has at least been an eye opener to me about potential zoonotic diseases that may be coming from my snake's food, even if the chances of infection are rare. I never even thought about it. I have always kept my frozen rodents in a freezer bag inside a paper bag in my deep freeze along with other food. I may start to rethink my practices. Of course I wash my hands and use proper hygiene, and it's not like I'm going start getting paranoid over this virus, but it still helps to know about a potential risk.

As for this virus surviving freezing, according to a LCMV biosecurity sheet, it can survive being frozen with liquid nitrogen. I will post the quote along with the link to it's source.

Special Hazards: Contaminated tissue cultures represent a potential hazard. Contaminated cell lines passaged in nude mice have resulted in at least 8 laboratory-acquired LCMV infections to personnel working with the mice. Tumors may acquire LCMV as an adventitious virus without obvious effects on the tumor. The virus may survive freezing and storage in liquid nitrogen for long periods. When infected tumor cells are transplanted, subsequent infection of the host and virus excretion may ensue.

source [PDF]: http://www.occupationalhealthprogram...LCMV_Final.doc

Also, I am no scientist, but if contaminated tissue can pose an infection risk, than can't a dead infected animal also pose a potential risk, seeing as they are usually frozen right after being killed? Or, how does that work?

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by chloro

I don't do business with this company and I am in no position to have an opinion on whether this may be true or not. But, this has at least been an eye opener to me about potential zoonotic diseases that may be coming from my snake's food, even if the chances of infection are rare. I never even thought about it. I have always kept my frozen rodents in a freezer bag inside a paper bag in my deep freeze along with other food. I may start to rethink my practices. Of course I wash my hands and use proper hygiene, and it's not like I'm going start getting paranoid over this virus, but it still helps to know about a potential risk.

As for this virus surviving freezing, according to a LCMV biosecurity sheet, it can survive being frozen with liquid nitrogen. I will post the quote along with the link to it's source.



source [PDF]: www.occupationalhealthprogram.ucsf.edu/Forms/LCMV_Final.doc

Also, I am no scientist, but if contaminated tissue can pose an infection risk, than can't a dead infected animal also pose a potential risk, seeing as they are usually frozen right after being killed? Or, how does that work?

All I have to say about it is this, they run a clean facility, their animals are top notch, I have never once thawed out any of their product and questioned the quality or health of the rodent or chick, they all looked great.

FC BOI seems to be a place for whiners.

Sometimes a legitimate issue gets addressed, but a lot of times people go overboard, and just like any forum or wiki article, blog or whatever any weirdo with a PC can type whatever brain vomit they want to.

[Tekpc007]

seem this article is about the incident : Farm World – weekly farm newspaper source for ag news, classifieds, auctions
rodent pro is not mentioned by name so I'm hoping Infernalis can talk to his contacts there and confirm it all.

From the Article :

After BOAH received the call, Dr. Lovejoy was on the road to southern Indiana the very same day the call came into the office. She found that the person affected with LCM worked at a commercial rodent production facility. The facility, which employed 52 works, was made up of four different buildings, housing a grand total of 156,000 adult mice and 13,500 adult rats, not including babies. The business produces, processes and packages live product and frozen product, much of which is contracted to exotic animal farms and zoos.



Dr. Lovejoy found that 13 of the facility’s employees were positive for LCM, nine reported that there were ill and six sought medical care.

[hylia]

Originally Posted by infernalis

All I have to say about it is this, they run a clean facility, their animals are top notch, I have never once thawed out any of their product and questioned the quality or health of the rodent or chick, they all looked great.

FC BOI seems to be a place for whiners.

Sometimes a legitimate issue gets addressed, but a lot of times people go overboard, and just like any forum or wiki article, blog or whatever any weirdo with a PC can type whatever brain vomit they want to.

I hope you didn't misunderstand my response Wayne. Like I said, I don't know this company and have nothing to say about them. My post was more about learning about this potential risk, be it from any source, since I had no idea about this disease coming from rodents. I apologize if it came across as anything else (or, if I misunderstood your response, sorry about that, lol).

[KORBIN5895]

Originally Posted by Lucille

Like anything else on the BOI, people are free to read information here and form their own opinions. There is no 'we', it is not necessary that all of us have the same opinion about either business issues or health issues.
There are two separate issues here: How Rodent Pro handled this issue, and the level of risk people face on exposure to lymphocytic choriomeningitis in general.

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

The problem is people are just jumping to conclusions. No one but the op has actually fingered rp in this. Even the article me that's been linked doesn't name names. Also there is more than one commercial rodent breeder in southern Indiana. American rodent is from there also .

Originally Posted by Rock Star Reptile

Here is what I have dug up. Sorry if it has been posted all ready.

Farm World – weekly farm newspaper source for ag news, classifieds, auctions

this reads as follows.

By MEGGIE. I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Busy and nerve-racking could only be the words to describe the month of June for the foreign animal disease (FAD) diagnostic team with the Indiana Board of Animal Health.
Dr. Jodi Lovejoy, district 8 field veterinarian with BOAH, can attest since she heads up the FAD division for the agency and has been on the road for three different, quite serious cases, investigating, collecting tissue samples, consulting with livestock producers and protecting public and animal health.

Just another day on the job for Dr. Lovejoy.

The most interesting case and the one that had the Board of Animal Health in a bout of both shock and awe and the occasional burst of uncomfortable laughter was a Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis outbreak in southern Indiana.

Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis known as LCM or LCMV is a rodent-born viral disease that affects nearly five percent of the mice population. Humans exposed to fresh mice or rat urine, dropping and saliva can become quite ill, Lovejoy explained. While some humans do not show clinical symptoms, others show biphasic symptoms meaning that there are two phases of symptoms - the first is flu-like including chest pain and testicular pain. The second phase of symptoms includes meningitis, fever and severe headache. Lovejoy also added that pregnant women with LCM can spontaneously abort the fetus or the child will have birth defects and if the affected patient transplants an organ, the transplant recipient may become pass away, instantly.

The tip to an LCM case rang into BOAH’s office on May 2, when the agency was contacted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
“A very astute doctor noticed the symptoms for LCM, so he tested for it and sure enough … so he contacted the CDC right away,” she said.

After BOAH received the call, Dr. Lovejoy was on the road to southern Indiana the very same day the call came into the office. She found that the person affected with LCM worked at a commercial rodent production facility. The facility, which employed 52 works, was made up of four different buildings, housing a grand total of 156,000 adult mice and 13,500 adult rats, not including babies. The business produces, processes and packages live product and frozen product, much of which is contracted to exotic animal farms and zoos.

Dr. Lovejoy found that 13 of the facility’s employees were positive for LCM, nine reported that there were ill and six sought medical care.

She sampled a total of 1,820 mice and rats - 399 rats tested all of which were negative and 1,491 mice, 296 of which tested positive. There was an infection rate in the mice of 21 percent, determined Lovejoy.
She quickly wrote a quarantine for each building, putting a halt on sales, production and packaging.
Lovejoy, who worked closely with the owner of the facility, said that 20,000 to 30,000 mice and rat products were shipped per day, five days a week.

“This isn’t a common disease, so we weren’t sure how to proceed,” said Dr. Lovejoy, adding that six state and federal agencies were involved in the quarantine including Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Indiana Department of Health, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the county health department, the CDC and BOAH. “The agencies quickly worked together to develop a game plan.”

Lovejoy said that if all mice and rats be were to be depopulated in all four barns, the buildings would be cleared and disinfected, then BOAH would lift the quarantine on the facility.

“Luckily, they did all their own depopulating and disinfecting, it worked out well, they were the experts,” she said, adding that OSHA required the employees to wear coveralls, foot wear, a mask and hoodie. “It was a huge nightmare they had to go through. We’re talking about thousands of rats, and aisle after aisle of boxes of mice. They ended up handling the trays (that housed the mice) three to four times during disinfection and depopulation for thousands of rats and mice.”

Lovejoy added that all the mice and rats were buried and they burned the litter.

“When we went back for an inspection, we found 12 mice running loose,” she said. “I remember the manager telling me that they couldn’t get every mouse. I said you have no other choice. The feces, the litter, they are contaminating the facility. We advised them to poison the water and that seemed to remedy the situation. We lifted the quarantine on July 11.”

In addition to the BOAH investigation, Lovejoy mentioned that the local county health department is requesting the shipping records from the facility.

“So we’ll continue to examine how this infection started,” she said.
Lovejoy, who worked in close contact with the facility’s owner, said that he estimated $750,000 worth of losses due to the quarantine and that it would cost $400,000 to repopulate.

“We can’t dream this stuff up,” said State Veterinarian Bret Marsh. “We’re just so fortunate to have such a great team here standing ready to deal with these kind of issues. And this is certainly a unique case – we’ve never seen anything like this.”
7/19/2012

Ted Adams @ RR

There are a couple of things I want to point out in this article. First the bold shows how you can contract lmv.


Next the underlined italics would jus suck.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by chloro

I hope you didn't misunderstand my response Wayne. Like I said, I don't know this company and have nothing to say about them. My post was more about learning about this potential risk, be it from any source, since I had no idea about this disease coming from rodents. I apologize if it came across as anything else (or, if I misunderstood your response, sorry about that, lol).

It is not your response at all, I am just trying to dispel any panic before it starts.

No one I know personally has had any problems either, and my forward way of thinking is that without proof, anything else is hearsay.

The title of the thread my easily scare someone into not doing business with Rodent Pro.

[Tekpc007]

I called RP this morning and they confirmed it was them , i spoke to Casey who works there. he would not go into detail and took my number for someone to call me back . I suggest you call them youself to confirm.

[CK SandBoas]

I have been using rodentpro since I've started owning snakes of my own, which is going on 8 years now, and I've never had a problem with any of my orders. I'm actually expecting an order either today or tomorrow from them. Am I concerned? I will say yes, a little, but like wayne said, without solid, concrete evidence, stating that the infected animals indeed were found at rodentpro, then it is hearsay.

[KORBIN5895]

As long as you don't let the rats pee on you and you don't lick or sniff the turds you should be fine.