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Pregnant with pet rats: Is LCMV a risk to my baby? What should I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Small Animal | Unknown - Small Animal | Female

My daughter has found out she is pregnant and she has pet rats - what is the risk of LCMV passing to the baby and what precautions should she take to minimise the risk

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on May 28th, 2018

LCMV is a rare disease in rats in general and even more rare in domestic rats. there are several blood tests available to detect the disease in rats, your vet will need to take a blood sample and send it to a special laboratory. i have personally never recommended nor sent blood to perform this test in any of my rat patients.

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