Woman Sues Over Killer Hamster
The Boston Globe reports that a woman is suing pet store chain Petsmart because her husband and two other people died from a rare virus carried by hamsters.
Nancy Magee’s husband Thomas died after receiving a liver transplant from a woman infected by lymphocytic choriomeningitis, a viral infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
The virus is carried by rodents like house mice or hamsters and generally only causes flu like symptoms in humans. But in humans with compromised immune systems (like those just having undergone a transplant) it can be fatal. In 2005 Magee and two other organ recipients died from the rare virus, which was traced to a hamster purchase at a PetSmart in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Magee said the chain had a duty to tell customers of the potential virus. I’m not usually one to defend corporate America, but how would that have read?
Dear Potential Hamster Owner: There is a 1 in 10,000,000 chance that if you die and are an organ donor you could transmit a fatal hamster virus to the organ recipients.
I suspect this ends with PetSmart scratching her off a decent check to make the bad publicity go away. And hey, if you want to avoid the middleman and just start paying media outlets….
Photo by Alon A licensed under Creative Commons
Tags: Killer Hamster, Nancy Magee, PetSmart, Rodent DiseasesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Just Weird, RIP
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