Can hamsters transmit diseases to humans?

[Crystalroborovski]

I've been researching hamsters and I think I may ask my parents if I could buy 1 or 2 roborovskis. I know they will ask me questions about hamsters since we've never owned small pets before. I'm almost certain they will ask me if hamsters can transmit diseases to humans. Can they? I haven't been able to find many good online articles about hamster disease transmission online.
-thanks!

[Jeir]

If they can, then I must have every single disease they may carry and then some, from how often I've kissed my hammies, or didn't wash my hands after playing with them. Or ate food while or just after playing with them. Or rubbed their soft fur on my face and didn't wash after.

I think the biggest worry if when you are ill, with cold/flu. They can certainly catch that from you. But, I've never been sick from hamsters (and I've had 11 Syrians, 4 Robos, 3 Hybrids), nor have I heard of anyone catching anything from them.

[Drago]

I agree with jeir, I wouldn't worry about diseases. Of course you should take some precautions and wash your hands before touching your face etc. but very few people ever get illness from hamsters. The only real worry I can think of is rat bite fever, but this is such a rare occurrence and can be prevented. Hope you are able to welcome a hamster or two into your life soon

[AmityvilleHams]

Proper hygiene as with any pet is all that you need to worry about.You'd be far more likely to get a disease from a dog or cat than small pets,considering how much more exposure they can get to the outside world.

There was a ridiculous overreaction in regards to rat bite fever.That's not even truly relevant to hamsters,nor is it a serious concern with rats to begin with being extremely rare as mentioned Of course,overreactions happen quite a bit with the general public when things go wrong with any sort of pet,for example the insane things you'll hear about raw feeding with dogs and cats or the extreme focus on salmonella with reptiles when in reality it's all about hygiene!

[cypher]

I'm like Jeir & don't think twice about burying my nose in warm ham fur or remembering to wash my hands after handling (I do before though) & I've never had the slightest problem, also as Jeir says they can be very susceptible to some of our illnesses so you do need to take precautions if either you or a family member is unwell.

[Cinnamon Bear]

I was really sick from Thanksgiving to past Christmas last year & on lots of anti-biotics. None of my hamster's got sick & I had to put my hands in their cages for cleaning, feeding, etc.

They never got sick at all. Now that I have 8 hamsters I wash my hands in between each one to not spread anything around to the best of my ability. Don't want their food they share to get contaminated by anything. Chloe is older & so is Latte, I'm paranoid about mites. Old age mites although it's probably all in my head, I still try to make sure everything regarding handling & food is clean

But the hamster itself isn't a carrier of anything harmful imo. I have Heaven right under my chin for hamster hugs with no problems. I'm sure my hand washing isn't 100 % successful but so far so good.

[Crystalroborovski]

Thanks so much everyone! I was pretty sure that I couldn't catch diseases from hamsters. Now I can clarify that to my parents- they usually are convinced that all small pets and birds can give you some wierd sickness from feces, bites, etc. Thx for helping me out

[AmityvilleHams]

I will say that bird feces can be extremely dangerous if you don't take certain precautions,but again it comes down to hygiene practices and using common sense(not breathing in directly over the feces,things like that).Pigeons in particular can spread a serious illness that often leads to death,which as far as I'm aware is also possible to catch from other bird species as well(unsure on exactly which species if any).Of course,that disease(cryptococcal meningitis)is barely heard of,but the risk is still there without certain precautionary steps.Just a little bit of education for the day I suppose

[kchrist368]

I have Baby whips next to the twin cage.for before and after i handle them.I make sure everyone cleans there hands before they touch them.I am the only one will bring them out and put back in there cage.