question about contagion after treatment with antibiotics

[Petunia]

got this question from a friend- I have no clue what the answer is, since I thought the most serious infections for rats are viruses not bacterial infections...??


here's the question:

how long after starting antibiotics is a rat no longer contagious (if he was contagious to begin with, that is). With people I believe once you've been on antibiotics for around 24 hours, you are no longer considered contagious (like with bronchitis or something like that). Is it the same for ratties?

 

[Kibble]

I've never heard of that 24-hour theory. And it varies massively from disease to disease - with some, you're no longer contagious as soon as the symptoms are in full swing, with others it takes weeks, literal weeks.

Can you get more info off her?

 

[victoria]

It's a good question, but I'm not sure there's one answer. We rarely know what we are treating with rats and I would imagine not all bacteria and viruses behave the same. Then there are pathogens that cannot be totally eradicated with medication (Mycoplasma and CarB come to mind) and may not be symptomatic but still contagious. Unless you know what the new and old rats carry, you cannot be sure that they are not a risk to each other unfortunately. You can do a quarantine and wait a specified period of time where both groups are symptom free to try to reduce the risk of passing on pathogens, but there are never guarantees. I suppose serology and nasal swabs (the ones requiring anesthesia) could be used to screen for most or all of the dangerous pathogens, but that would be very costly and somewhat risky.

 

[jorats]

I know that with mycoplasma in humans, once you are on meds for 24 hours you are no longer contagious. I've been told this by my doctor.
But I'm not sure if it's the same in rats. I don't think I would introduce new rats to the infected rat but I certainly wouldn't separate the infected rat from his colony.