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Index of Subjects We went through this exercise several years ago when we confirmed that some of the commercially available pellets actually came from the US mid-west, specifically in areas of Hanta virus. (this was based on identification of the species contained in the pellets where intact crania were retrieved). We inquired through the Health Canada infectious diseases laboratory in Winnipeg. The conclusion was that sterilization of the pellets was indeed important, but that with dry storage of the pellets, that particular pathogen wan rendered inert. They did recommend precautions such as disposable gloves and disinfection of surface ant implements when doing the dissections. This was more to get the students to think of those precautions, although the extra sanitary protocols would not hurt. As a result, we still offer that as a supervised schools program here at the Museum. Andrew >>> "Ulli Hoeger" <uhoeger@dal.ca> 2/28/2008 6:38 pm >>> I know that you can buy sterilized ones from science supply stores. Sterilized is a good point, because due to the nature of things pellets may contain pathogenic material, and some of the viruses connected to rodents can be quite nasty. We dissected pellets in University and it is still done with certain precautions. However, elementary school kids may be a different story. Other folks here may correct me on this. Randy? Ulli
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