Eating cotton rats would be racist.
Tell that to the Vietnamese. Hmm. Maybe we should take a clue from the Cambodians and start an export business:
Cambodian rat meat: A growing export market
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28863315
According to this, cotton rats carry Everglades Fever:
https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/rats-taking-over-everglades/
Which appears to be a variant of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/everglades-virus
But apparently, symptomatic cases in humans are rare. That’s nice. Actually, those cotton rats are kinda cute.