Is a rat a good pet for someone with cystic fibrosis

Question
My son is 8 & has cystic fibrosis (thick sticky mucas in the lungs which traps bacteria & causes reoccuring chest infections)& we are looking for an appropriate pet.  I have read that pet rats are very clean but was wondering what kinds of bacteria do they carry (if any) & if they could transmit these bacterias to the lungs of my child (assuming the rat is kept in a clean environment & child washes hands after handling rat) eg. pseudomonas or other nasty bacterias or fungi.

Answer
Hi Trudy

Any type of illnesses that rats are prone to such as mycoplasmosis is all species specific.  Pet rats do not carry any of the nasty disease a wild  rat that lives in wastelands carry.  No worries at all.

The only thing rats can pass to people and people to rats would be ringworm and thats about it.  You can pick that up simply from a shopping cart handle at Walmart!

Hope this helps set your mind at ease.

Please take the time to look over my website about the things rats are prone to in order to better understand rat health etc...and how to prevent illness in rats.

They are great pets!

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/index.htm