I had this problem with rugs I purchased in India recently. The smells seem to be the result of bacteria and oils. I spread baking soda on the rugs and let them stay in the sun for a day or two, where they could get a good blast of UV light. Then I vacuumed the powder off, reapplied, and waited another couple of days. The smell is 95% gone. I'm going to try again next weekend...
If the smell in the house bothers you, you could look at room air filters. ConsumerReports.com has a really good article on the subject and rate the Whirlpool models far, far above the awfully performing sharper imagine "Ionic Breeze" type-products.
If the smell in the house bothers you, you could look at room air filters. ConsumerReports.com has a really good article on the subject and rate the Whirlpool models far, far above the awfully performing sharper imagine "Ionic Breeze" type-products.