[Gpdd] Misc: A new word to make you feel better

[Susi Eastin]

Perhaps this is old news - with my recent computer problems, there are still a good many
issues of the digest I haven't read yet. So if I am going over old ground, forgive me.
Anyway, I am taking the liberty of repeating a small article in the recent issue of Pet Product
News (Sept 2005).  This is the ongoing saga of that 'pocket pet' controversy, where a pet
hamster was blamed for the death of 3 people (I still don't understand why they aren't blaming
the people for not washing their hands!). Anyway, apparently by sanitizing their actions
with a fancy new word, the pet distributor and the government can feel better about the senseless slaughter of thousands of innocent little victims.  
The new word is Depopulation.  Mid-South Distributors of Ohio, LLC, has "depopulated"
it's facility.  
Interestingly, there was a recent article written by a cavy expert that indicated this was not
such a big crisis, and that the guinea pigs were not even at risk. I will pass that article
along soon as well.
Here's the article, you can contact them if you like, but it doesn't sound like you will get
an answer from them. Maybe someone will have an idea as to who else we should voice
our opinions to, like Dept of Agriculture, CDC, Petco, the media, etc. . . .
 
"Mid-South Distributors of Ohio, LLC, a pet distribuor in NOrwich, Ohio, depopulated its facility after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that four of its animals carried the lymphocyctic choriomeningitis virus.
More than 10,000 hamsters, rats, mice, guinea pigs and other pockeet pets were destroyed to help prevent spread of the disease, which, according to the CDC, is easily transferable from rodent to rodent.  Investigators tested 120 animals from the facility.
The center's animals, which are distributed to the East Coast, have not been shipped with the required veterinary inspection papers since October 2004, the Ohio Department of Agriculture reported.
The investigation into the center was launched after the CDC determined that the LCMV-infested hamster that caused the death of three organ donor recipients in New England three months ago was distributed through Mid-South.  The virus usually causes flu-like symptoms in human carriers, but is dangerous to individuals with weakened immune systems, such as organ recipients, CDC officials said.
The center ws placed under quarantine by the Ohio Department of Agriculture when detection of the virus was first reported.  It will remain under quarantine until a thorough cleaning and disinfecting process is completed, said Melaie Wilt, spokeswoman for the department.
Calls to the center requesting comment were not returned.
To prevent rodent-to-human transmission of LCMV, the CDC recommends washing hands with soap and water after handling a pet rodent, its caging or its bedding, and to avoid kissing it or holding it close to the face."