Rabies

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The subject of rabies inevitably comes up whenever an individual

is bitten by a hamster and because hamster bites are so common.

Hamsters are not natural hosts of this virus.  Therefore, the

only way that a hamster could become infected with the rabies

virus is to become exposed to infected saliva from a natural host

of the virus (skunk, fox, bat, etc.).  This is highly unlikely

because hamsters are almost exclusively indoor pets.