CDC Warns Michigan + 11 Other States About Rodent Virus Outbreak

The Centers for Disease Control is warning health officials in Michigan and 11 other states about about a virus that is passed from rodents to humans.

The Seoul Virus has already infected eight people in Illinois and Wisconsin. The root of the outbreak has been linked to two individuals in Wisconsin who were operating a home-based rat-breeding business.

A home-based rat-breeding business? Really?

Here's more info from the CDC:

CDC is assisting health officials in 12 states in investigating an outbreak of Seoul virus infection that has infected 8 people in Illinois and Wisconsin, after reports of illness in December 2016 in two individuals who operated a home-based rat-breeding facility in Wisconsin. One person was hospitalized. The ill individuals had purchased rats from animal suppliers in Wisconsin and Illinois. Trace-backs to two Illinois ratteries revealed six additional people who tested positive for Seoul virus. All individuals have recovered.

Follow-up investigations by CDC and partnering state and local health departments indicate that potentially infected rodents may have been distributed or received in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Anyone who may potentially be at risk of infection is encouraged to seek blood testing.