Family Sues Petco After Calif. Boy, 10, Dies from Rat Bite Fever [View all]

[SunSeeker]

The family of a 10-year-old-boy who died from rat bite fever is now suing Petco for the boy’s death. Aiden Pankey died last summer from rat bite fever, a disease reportedly carried by a rodent purchased from a Petco in San Diego, Calif., according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.

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Two weeks after buying the male rat, the boy was struck with what his grandmother called “flu-like symptoms” and died over the course of 48 hours.
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“I put him to bed after a day at the doctor’s office and the next thing I knew it just was too late,” she said. ”I went into his room and he couldn’t speak. He was unstable on his feet. I got him down to my room and he collapsed on the floor. I called 911 because it was scaring me that his breathing was shallow and he seemed to be losing his ability to function.”

The San Diego Medical Examiner’s office said in a report issued to ABC News that “despite aggressive resuscitative efforts, death was pronounced.”


http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/02/family-sues-petco-after-calif-boy-10-dies-from-rat-bite-fever/