19 Monkeypox Cases Detected in 3 Midwest States Over Weekend

The New York Times ^ | 06/08/03 | LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN and JODI WILGOREN

[Pokey78]

Monkeypox, a viral disease related to smallpox but less infectious and deadly, has been detected for the first time in the Western Hemisphere. Three Midwestern states, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana, reported at least 19 monkeypox cases over the weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Wisconsin reported the vast majority, 17, with Illinois and Indiana reporting one each. The patients ranged in age from 4 to 48 years, and all had had contact with direct or close contact with ill prairie dogs, which have become a common household pet. Several patients work for veterinarians or pet stores that handled the animals. No patients have died, although four have been hospitalized, C.D.C. officials said.

Wisconsin health officials said patients there typically fell ill with signs and symptoms like fever, headaches, nonproductive cough, swollen lymph nodes, chills and drenching sweats. From 1 to 10 days later, the patients developed a rash consisting of blister-like pimples that filled with pus and broke open, finally producing a crust. The rash occurred over the head, trunk and arms and legs, often appearing in different stages or crops.

Most patients became ill from 4 to 12 days after exposure to a sick animal, but the incubation period may have been as long as 20 days.

Laboratory tests performed by C.D.C. confirmed that the patients had been infected with the monkeypox virus. C.D.C. asked the physicians, veterinarians and members of the public to report to their local health departments any rash that developed within 21 days after exposure to prairie dogs, Gambian rats and other animals.

The Centers for Disease Control also advised workers caring for suspected monkeypox patients in hospitals to follow standard infection control measures like gloves, gowns and N-95 masks such as those used to protect against SARS. C.D.C. also advised veterinarians to take the same precautions in caring for sick prairie dogs, Gambian rats, other rodents and rabbits.

Monkeypox has long been known to cause sporadic infections in the rain forest areas of West Africa where several hundred cases have been reported in recent years. From 1 percent to 10 percent of monkey pox cases have been fatal in West Africa, according to different studies.

The sudden appearance of monkeypox in the United States is a surprise. Precisely how monkeypox reached the United States is unknown. Dr. Stephen M. Ostroff, a C.D.C. official said that his federal agency was investigating a number of theories, including an imported case in a traveler from West Africa or a sick animal.

Dr. Kurt Reed, an infectious disease pathologist who runs the microbiology lab and the clinical research center at Marshfield Clinic, a large research facility in central Wisconsin, said his lab was the first to isolate the virus, after a 4-year-old girl who had been bitten by her new pet prairie dog came in with an infected finger in mid-May. The girl's parents, who also had contact with the prairie dog, both later developed the disease, though her 38-year-old father, who had received the small pox vaccination as a child, had a milder case.

The girl came in with a necrotic, ulcerated lesion on her finger, Dr. Reed said, and bacterial cultures quickly ruled out tularemia and the plague. A biopsy of lesions taken from her mother showed a pox-like virus under the electron microscope. By June 2, cultures from her virus and from the prairie dog — which had died — matched and suggested orthopox, Dr. Reed said.

"Right then we knew we had something interesting," he said. "We do lots and lots of virus cultures. This was very unusual. There's nothing really in the literature about prairie dogs having pox viruses."

When the clinic contacted the state health department, the doctors discovered there had been similar cases in the Milwaukee area, and that the prairie dogs may have been housed with Gambian rats through an exotic pet dealer in suburban Chicago. "That really raised the suspicion that this was an old-world virus that had made its way into the United States," Dr. Reed said.

Prairie dogs and Gambian rats are part of a wide array of exotic animals feeding a growing and diversifying niche pet market, though some animal-rights activists oppose their domestication.

Prairie dogs, herbivorous members of the squirrel family that are found in the Rocky Mountain region, are believed to have a sophisticated communication system through smell and touch, and burrow complex underground tunnel systems.

The rats, which grow to the size of small cats, eat pet food mixes as well as fruits, vegetables and cooked meats. "They are intelligent, social and can be very gentle if handled from an early age," one enthusiast, Jazmyn Concolor, posted on the Web site, www.altpet.net, adding that one rat sleeps with, and does not chew to death, a stuffed toy lion. "They are not pets for everyone, requiring patience and understanding of their habits."

[Asclepius]

Most patients became ill from 4 to 12 days after exposure to a sick animal, but the incubation period may have been as long as 20 days.

This is terrible. I spent last weekend at a motivational seminar in Montana where one of the exercises involved rolling around naked in a huge basket of cuddly-furry prairie dogs. I forgot precisely how the basket of prairie dogs was supposed to motivate me. I mean, I did want to get out of that basket really badly, so I suppose I was motivated in that sense. I enjoyed the fire-walking excerise more than the prairie dog exercise, at least until my ceremonial robe went up like a Roman candle.

[FairOpinion]

"I spent last weekend at a motivational seminar in Montana where one of the exercises involved rolling around naked in a huge basket of cuddly-furry prairie dogs"
--

LOL!!! Surely you jest!

[aristeides]

Monkeypox Latest Bioweapon Lookout .

[FairOpinion]

Monkeypox Latest Bioweapon Lookout .
---

Very interesting, written about a year ago.

I hope it's not bioterrorism, these things are hard to prove, was that Gambian rat really the origin? And how come in all the previous years there never have been any infections.

The appearance of the West Nile Virus was also first in the Western Hemisphere.

Aren't these a little too many conincidences?

[Steve Eisenberg]

Dr. Kurt Reed, an infectious disease pathologist who runs the microbiology lab and the clinical research center at Marshfield Clinic, a large research facility in central Wisconsin, said his lab was the first to isolate the virus, after a 4-year-old girl who had been bitten by her new pet prairie dog came in with an infected finger in mid-May.

No common sense. These are not bred for gentleness, right? Aren't we talking about a wild animal pet for a 4 year old?

[riri]

I agree. They are starting to add up.

[blam]

"The good news is that monkeypox does not appear to be transmissible from person to person and the smallpox vaccine protects against it. "

Those of us who had smallpox vaccines years/decades ago should have some immunity.

[Steve Eisenberg]

I spent last weekend at a motivational seminar in Montana where one of the exercises involved rolling around naked in a huge basket of cuddly-furry prairie dogs.

What FairOpinion said. Are we in a 60's time warp here, or what? And where's PETA when you actually need it?

[blam]

Memorable Shot: Smallpox Vaccine Has Lasting Effect (40's-50's Vaccination Still Good)

[FairOpinion]

"The good news is that monkeypox does not appear to be transmissible from person "

---

I read in a number of places that it IS transmissible from person to person.

We HOPE that smallpox vaccines of years ago may provide some protection, but the last vaccines were given over 30 years ago, and it's only supposed to last for 10 years. I know there have been some recent reports that there is some immunity even from that long ago, but then there were some reports which said it's not valid for that long. So who knows.

But I personally do wish they would make the smallpox vaccine AVAILABLE so those who want it, could take it on a voluntary basis.

[backhoe]

-West Nile Virus- some basic information----

[aristeides]

. The girl's parents, who also had contact with the prairie dog, both later developed the disease, though her 38-year-old father, who had received the small pox vaccination as a child, had a milder case.

[FairOpinion]

"though her 38-year-old father, who had received the small pox vaccination as a child, had a milder case. "
--

So he still DID catch it, just was milder, I guess it's some consolation.

[stlnative]

FR Thread - Pox-Like Outbreak Reported

[blam]

This is the news I find troubling about WNV.

Another Polio? Alarming West Nile Risks Emerge

[Cicero]

the prairie dogs may have been housed with Gambian rats through an exotic pet dealer in suburban Chicago

This sounds as if it might be the source. Maybe having Gambian rats as pets was a bad idea? Let's hope only pet prairie dogs are infected, and not the prairie dog population in the wild, or we will likely have yet another exotic foreign disease to worry about.

[aristeides]

I'd say there's a bigger worry than prairie dogs. In Africa, monkeypox is carried by monkeys and squirrels.

[blam]

"Let's hope only pet prairie dogs are infected, and not the prairie dog population in the wild, or we will likely have yet another exotic foreign disease to worry about."

Yeah, I have already been thinking about the Grey Squirrels around here.

[stlnative]

The Prairie Dogs were exposed to Gambian Rat (probably smuggled in from Africa recently, where Monkeypox is from)

Read the other FR thread I posted a link to above.

This is not bioterrorism, it some fool that smuggled in a african Gambian Rat into the USA and the darn "pet" Prairie Dogs caught it.

[FairOpinion]

"This is not bioterrorism, it some fool that smuggled in a african Gambian Rat into the USA and the darn "pet" Prairie Dogs caught it. "
---

Maybe and maybe not. Apparently that is only a theory.

"Precisely how monkeypox reached the United States is unknown. Dr. Stephen M. Ostroff, a C.D.C. official said that his federal agency was investigating a number of theories, including an imported case in a traveler from West Africa or a sick animal."

[stlnative]

Experts suspect rare virus
Pet prairie dogs may have spread rare monkeypox to humans
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE

mmarchione@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: June 7, 2003

Monkeypox, a rare virus never before seen outside of African rain forests, is probably what's causing the prairie dog illness that has sickened up to 20 people in Wisconsin and nearby states in recent weeks, health officials announced Saturday.

17 people in Wisconsin, one or two in Illinois, and one in Indiana are ill after contact with prairie dogs sold as pets.

Monkeypox, a virus native to African rain forests, is believed responsible.

Prairie dogs were sold at two Milwaukee County pet stores and a Wausau swap meet in May. They may have become infected from a sick rat possibly imported from Africa. Symptoms appear up to two weeks after contact with an infected animal, and include fever, sweats, chills and a blistering rash.

Wisconsin officials have banned the sale, importation and display of prairie dogs.

In an evening news conference, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said they don't yet know how many people may have been exposed to prairie dogs or a few other animals that are involved, and can't yet account for all the animals.

The virus' DNA sequence hasn't been determined yet, but officials say it's either monkeypox or a closely related member of the family of viruses that includes smallpox, though far less contagious or deadly.

"To my knowledge this is the very first evidence of a monkeypox-like virus causing community-acquired human illness in the Western Hemisphere," said James Hughes, director of the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases.

"It's very important that physicians, veterinarians and the public should be aware of this very unusual outbreak and be on the lookout for symptoms," he said.

Officials don't think the virus is easily spread person to person, though that has happened relatively infrequently in Africa where the only recognized outbreaks of human monkeypox disease have occurred.

"Everyone who has become ill in our state has come into contact with an animal," said epidemiologist Jeffrey P. Davis, Wisconsin's chief medical officer.

No one in the U.S. outbreak has died or become seriously ill, but the fatality rate in Africa has ranged from 1% to 10%, Hughes said.

Seventeen people in Wisconsin, one or two in Illinois, and one in Indiana have come down with fever, sweats, chills, cough and a blistering rash after having had contact with prairie dogs sold as pets since early May. Four people are still hospitalized, but all are recovering.

Single shipment blamed Officials think the source is a shipment of 25 to 30 of the animals that a South Milwaukee distributor obtained from another distributor in Villa Park, Ill., who got them from Texas. The Illinois distributor's shipment also included a Gambian rat that was sick at the time it was in contact with the prairie dogs.

Such rats are sold in the United States as exotic pets and are native to Africa, where they're known to be susceptible to monkeypox.

"It's certainly possible that one of these Gambian rats was the original source," Hughes said. "That's certainly one of the leading hypotheses at this point."

"What we don't know is the source of the Gambian rats that the Illinois distributor had . . . and the scope of the import of Gambian rats into the United States in general," he added. "Preliminary information suggests that animals from the Illinois distributor may have been sold in other states."

In Wisconsin, the prairie dogs were sold at two pet stores - Hoffer's Tropic Life Pets, 7323 N. 76th St. in Milwaukee, and Rainbow Pets, 4060 N. Oakland Ave. in Shorewood - and at a swap meet in Wausau in mid-May.

People started getting sick May 15, but it wasn't until Wednesday that health officials were aware of multiple cases and tied them to exposure to prairie dogs.

The Marshfield Clinic's lab looked at tissue samples from sick prairie dogs and sick people with an electron microscope and saw signs of an orthopoxvirus, the family that includes monkeypox, smallpox and cowpox or vaccinia, the virus that comprises the smallpox vaccine.

Tests at the CDC confirmed monkeypox or a monkeypox-like virus, and officials are now working to sequence the germ to see whether it is novel or just newly introduced to the U.S., Hughes said.

Seven prairie dogs from Hoffer's were euthanized on Friday, and tissue samples from them were sent to the CDC, said acting Wisconsin state veterinarian Robert Ehlenfeldt. At least two other prairie dogs died earlier, and some are recovering from their illness, he said.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is tracing the movement of the animals, and Ehlenfeldt said that at least one prairie dog sold at the Wausau swap meet hasn't been found or accounted for.

Eileen Whitmarsh, co-owner of Rainbow Pets, said she had two prairie dogs, and one got sick. The animals arrived in her store May 5, but both were gone by May 12, with one dying and the other being sent back to the distributor, SK Exotics in South Milwaukee.

"The minute that one got ill, we quarantined her immediately," said Whitmarsh, who was the only one in her store to get sick because she alone handled the creatures.

Whitmarsh said the small mammals in her store were kept away from the prairie dogs when they were there, and none came in contact with them. Still, the small mammals are currently isolated in several aquariums in the back of the store in different rooms. None is showing any symptoms, she said.

Tammy Kautzer of Dorchester, who lives on a farm and sells animals at swap meets, received two prairie dogs May 11. One of them became ill two days after arriving, and the second became sick about a week afterward. The first prairie dog died, but the second one seems to be recovering, she said.

The prairie dog that died was the one that bit Kautzer's 3-year-old daughter, who became sick soon afterward. Kautzer and her husband also fell ill.

"Right now, I am going to keep it around, if it is needed for testing," said Kautzer, who is keeping the animal confined in cage in her laundry room. "I am going to see if it recovers, and if it's safe I want to keep it. It's pretty friendly."

Kautzer said the prairie dogs didn't come in contact with any of her cats, dogs, horses, donkeys or other animals, and she has not sold any animals at a swap meet this year.

Extent of virus unknown Whether other animals in other shipments might be involved isn't known, and officials have not yet talked to the South Milwaukee distributor.

"We haven't been able to interview him. He's still in the hospital," Ehlenfeldt said.

Milwaukee Health Commissioner Seth Foldy said local officials also were working to trace the movement of the prairie dogs and have temporarily stopped the sale of gerbils, guinea pigs and other animals that were in contact with them at the two Milwaukee County pet stores.

"All mammals have been quarantined from affected outlets," but "prairie dogs have been in contact with other animals" in people's homes, he said.

Meanwhile, state officials used emergency powers on Friday to ban the sale, importation and display of prairie dogs because of the illness.

Eric Whitaker, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said he and the governor's office were exploring their legal options to do the same in Illinois, which has one and possibly two cases of illness tied to prairie dogs.

Robert Teclaw, Indiana's state epidemiologist, said one case was diagnosed in his state Friday night.

The people involved in the 17 Wisconsin cases range in age from 3 to 48 and are in four counties, including 13 in southeastern Wisconsin, Davis said. They include the distributor and someone else in his household.

Six of the cases are in veterinarians or veterinary technicians in three clinics in three different counties.

Three cases in one home involve a prairie dog bought at a swap meet in Wausau. In another cluster, a painter got sick after being in a home with a prairie dog that was bought from one of the pet stores involved. One employee at each of the two stores also became ill.

Finally, a rabbit in one home where there was an infected prairie dog became sick and died. A human case occurred in that home, too.

The most recent case in Wisconsin was reported on Tuesday. Three are still hospitalized - two at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa, including the Wisconsin distributor. All are in satisfactory condition. The location of the third hospitalized case was not revealed.

Hospitals used standard airborne and contact precautions to prevent spread of the illness. Veterinarians handling suspected sick animals should use heavy personal protection - gloves, surgical masks or respirators and gowns - and aggressively wash their hands, Hughes said.

"We are learning as we go here" about infection control to prevent monkeypox transmission, Hughes said.

Disease appears in Africa
Monkeypox was only recognized as a disease separate from smallpox in 1971, said Peter Jahrling, chief scientific adviser for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

It occurred in remote villages in central and western Africa, and is usually transmitted to people from infected squirrels or primates, according to the World Health Organization. Interest in it was renewed after outbreaks in 1997 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaire.

There's some evidence that the smallpox vaccine also protects against monkeypox, and the Army research institute has been investigating that and possible treatments for smallpox and monkeypox, such as the anti-viral drug cidofovir, which shows some promise against monkeypox, Jahrling said.

But protection wanes over time, and John Melski, a dermatologist at the Marshfield Clinic, said at least one monkeypox victim treated there had gotten a smallpox shot as a child that "obviously was not protective" now.

Hughes said the Army research institute's involvement in this investigation was because of its pox expertise and not because of fear that bioterrorism was involved.

"There's nothing so far that would suggest this has any nefarious side to it," he said of the prairie dog outbreak.
Jahrling agreed.
"It seems to me the epidemiology is pretty tight. The association with prairie dogs seems pretty convincing," he said.

Stanley A. Miller II of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

[FairOpinion]

Yes, the West Nile Virus is alarming too. That is a good article you linked to.


And the WNV is BACK this year. See this article:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/925177/posts

[najida]

Yep,
If the squirrels get it, we are toast....

'sides, in these parts, we already think they work for al Queda....running in front of your car, blowing up tansformers, dropping nuts to crack your windsheild....

[FairOpinion]

It's certainly possible that one of these Gambian rats was the original source," Hughes said. "That's certainly one of the leading hypotheses at this point."

In other words they don't know and there is no proof, that is how it got here, they just think and hope this was the way and that it was accidental.

[aristeides]

Six of the cases are in veterinarians or veterinary technicians in three clinics in three different counties.

[HiTech RedNeck]

EEP EEP OOP OOP EEP EEP!

[HiTech RedNeck]

New illnesses in the Eastern Hemisphere don't get a lot of press.

[aristeides]

Hughes said the Army research institute's involvement in this investigation was because of its pox expertise and not because of fear that bioterrorism was involved.

Uh huh. Just so happens that Steven Hatfill has researched monkeypox.

[joesnuffy]

I have bought rabbits from the animal sale held a few times a year in Marathon Park..Wausau, Wi.
And have seen those prairie dogs for sale..

They were kept in wire cages and right next to rabbits, guinea pigs, and white mice etc..the area is indoors with little ventilation and all the animals are within close proximity..

Point being if the prairie dogs caught this from being around a Gambian rat..and the animal sale in Marathon park is a two day event...and the animals are housed near each other for 24-48 hours..how easily could the other animals..(especially rodents) catch this diesease and spread it...

People sell hundreds of rabbits at these shows..

The prairie dogs I saw were priced at $40-$50 If I remember correctly...cute but pricey for rodents...I thought..

There were always a lot of little kids around the animals playing with them...wondering how many more cases will pop up in N Central Wi

[RadioAstronomer]

and can't yet account for all the animals.

I hope that people turn them in or destroy them. I hope they just don't get frightened and release them into the wild.

[aristeides]

CDC: Pets could be spreading monkeypox.

[stlnative]

Also to bring to light the main pet dealer is from Villa Park, IL and sells under the name Phil's Pocket Pets (do a google search and you find he sells through the internet also.) He is sick in the hospital and he is the one that purchased them from someone in Texas and they have not had a chance to find out who he purchased them from in Texas. Chance are the Gambiam Rats were smuggled in through Mexico and into Texas. Finding out where they came from and where they were before Texas is going to be hard.

[FairOpinion]

Here is an interesting article, in .pdf, see page 8 about possible introduction of bioterror agents via a few infected animals.

"Disease organisms could be interoduced effectively and clandestinely, with littelchance of detection, through the simple expedient of randommly or selectively introducing pre-infected animals.
---
No elaborate delivery tachnology or methods would be necessary under sucha clandestine, economically targeted bioweapons assault scenario: a willing conspirator, a little careful planning, and access to an appropriate disease agent are all that would be required.

http://www.oie.int/eng/publicat/rt/2101/J.P.%20DUDLEY.pdf

I am NOT saying that either this monkey pox or West Nile Virus are bioterrorist attacks. But IF they were, we most likely couldn't tell the difference.

You may say, these are pretty ineffective, well, they are from the point of view that you don't have millions of people dying within days, but they do cause a lot of problems, which is what they want to do. Instead of a few suicide bombers killing a few dozen people every now and then, they can have the bugs do it for them. And these terrorists don't want the credit, they just want to kill us.

And I don't particularly like the time of this either, within weeks after our war in Iraq.

[Trust but Verify]

You're wasting your time. There are a lot of people who search day and night for anything they can pin on terrorists. It's their hobby. Logic and reason go right out the door.

People should stop being so stupid and stick to having domesticated animals for pets. It's embarassing these idiots are in Wisconsin.

[FairOpinion]

"Just so happens that Steven Hatfill has researched monkeypox. "

--

Oh, NO!!! Did Hatfill do this too?

Of course he did NOT research anthrax and the FBI has been blaming that on him...

(PS. I do NOT think Hatfill did it)

[stlnative]

You are so right...! People just do not know how often animals are smuggled into this country because some dummy wants to have an exotic pet. People buy them and thats why their is a market for them. Stop buying exotic pets and the market for them will die off and things like this will not happen. I think I read that the mother of the 4 year old still has one of the Prairie Dogs and has it confined to her laundry room and plans to keep it, because it so cute and tame! (gee... didn't your kid just become ill from you having these animals in your home)

[aristeides]

I don't think Hatfill did this either -- he's been under so much surveillance of late, I don't see how he could have. But the fact that he has researched monkeypox in the past serves to show that the U.S. government -- and presumably other governments -- consider monkeypox a feasible bioweapon.

[FairOpinion]

"There are a lot of people who search day and night for anything they can pin on terrorists. It's their hobby."
---

LOL. Not exactly, we just like to keep an open mind and allow for ALL possibilities, rather than come to the conclusion without all the facts being in, that it couldn't possibly be terrorism, just because.

[FairOpinion]

"But the fact that he has researched monkeypox in the past serves to show that the U.S. government -- and presumably other governments -- consider monkeypox a feasible bioweapon. "

---

An excellent point.

[aristeides]

And it also shows why USAMRIID would have expertise in this particular disease.

[Trust but Verify]

Some idiot smuggled rat(s) to the US to sell in pet stores. The rat(s) are infected with a virus common in Africa, but not in America.

Another idiot thought it would be a good idea to sell prairie dogs as pets. Keep in mind prairie dogs have been known to carry the plague. You put the rats and the dogs together then distribute them in a couple of exotic pet stores in the upper midwest. Yet another idiot(s) buys the prairie dogs as pets, for crying out loud. Then they let their 4 year-old handle them. She gets bitten. Everyone gets sick from a disease carried by the rodent.

What does this all add up to? Nothing more than a bunch of idiots who all deserve to be sick for being so stupid.

I hereby nominate them for the Darwin Award!

[steplock]

Wisconsin -- Again!

Why do these odd thing happen to the fine state of Wisconsin?

I just heard this story on ABC Radio News - prominently mentioned was "Wisconsin" pet prarie dogs.

Maybe these prarie dogs are the manifestations of dead Wisconsin Liberals?

Or is it just another sinister right-wing neo-com religious-gun-totting psycho militia plot?

WHO would want to have a pet prarie dog anyway? BESIDES a Wisconsiner?

;>)

[aristeides]

Interesting that at just this time the Belgian authorities have arrested an Iraqi emigre in Belgium for mailing poisoned letters to the U.S. embassy, the prime minister of Belgium, and various other offices, in the name of the "International Islamic Society," and calling his addressees "bastards."

[Trust but Verify]

All this story will need is one muslim, any muslim, anywhere along the chain here to confirm in 50% of the minds here that this is bio-terroism. It could be the driver of the delivery truck working for the pet wholesaler. Same with WNV, Norwalk virus and SARS. On one hand, we give the terrorists too much credit for creativity, etc. OTOH, they've got to be pretty desperate to take their chances on the spread of a disease (with very low mortality rate) by a third-party (animal). It just doesn't make sense.

[aristeides]

Did you notice that, according to that link in #4, Iraq may have gotten access to the monkeypox bioweapon that the Russians have been working on?

[Trust but Verify]

Phil's pocket Pets, eh? Hmm.... Phil doesn't sound liek a muslim name does it? :)

[FairOpinion]

"Did you notice that, according to that link in #4, Iraq may have gotten access to the monkeypox bioweapon that the Russians have been working on? "
--

Yes, I saw it, and while it was linked from NewsMax, it was a UPI article, I have seen the same article elsewhere, so I think it's credible.

[blam]

(I'll tack this article on here)

Rare monkeypox virus spread by pet rodents reported in three American states

By David Usborne in New York
09 June 2003
Independent (UK)

Health officials in the United States disclosed yesterday that up to 19 people in three Midwestern states may be suffering from monkeypox virus, an illness closely related to smallpox.

The disease, which is not usually fatal in humans, has never been detected in the Western Hemisphere before. There was concern that the sufferers, mostly in Wisconsin, may have caught the rare virus after contact with sick Gambian rats and prairie dogs, the ground-dwelling rodents common in the western US that are sometimes sold as pets.

"Public health officials ... have reported the first outbreak of human infections with a monkeypox-like virus to be documented in the Western Hemisphere," the Atlanta-based Centres for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The disease is most commonly found in the rainforests of western and central Africa.

A pet distributor in Chicago, Illinois, has been quarantined. One of those infected reported having recent contact with exotic animals there. "Preliminary information suggests that animals from this distributor may have been sold in several other states," the CDC said.

A single case has also been reported in northern Indiana. Symptoms in humans include a high temperature, rashes and swollen lymph nodes. Only four of those suspected to have contracted the virus were in hospital yesterday. There was a warning to Americans who own rodents as pets to report any signs of illness to the CDC. Wisconsin has meanwhile responded by imposing a ban on the sale or display of prairie dogs as pets.

The outbreak, if confirmed, is likely to fuel fears in America over exotic diseases invading its shores. Toronto has been struck by an outbreak of Sars, the respiratory disease that originated in China. And around the US, health agencies are gearing up to combat mosquitoes able to spread the West Nile virus, which has infected cities including New York in recent summers.