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Mysterious illness caused by pet prairie dogs is possibly monkeypox
The Associated Press ^
| 06/07/03
| The Associated Press
Posted on 06/07/2003 8:58:25 PM PDT by Orange1998
By The Associated Press
(6/07/03 - MADISON, WI) A virus related to smallpox that has never been detected in the Western Hemisphere may be the cause of a mysterious disease spreading from pet prairie dogs to people across the upper Midwest, health officials said Saturday.
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Arsenal of weapons found in girl's bedroom; four teens arrested Watch for construction closures on Houston roads this weekend Fire erupts at plant on Ship Channel Driver flees scene after fiery accident kills his passenger Argument in strip center parking lot turns into deadly shooting Three-alarm strip center fire destroys nail salon Jury to decide fate of officers after immigrant died in their custody Family narrowly avoids tragedy while returning from water park Handcuffed suspect escapes from back seat of patrol car More recent stories Dr. James Hughes, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a group of prairie dogs sold from a suburban Chicago pet distributor appears to be infected with the monkeypox virus, a member of the same viral family that causes smallpox but is not nearly as deadly.
Monkeypox has typically been found in West African rain forests, Hughes said. The death rate among infected humans has ranged from 1 percent to 10 percent.
Hughes said although monkeypox is spread primarily through rodents in Africa, scientists haven't ruled out person-to-person transmission.
"We're in the very early stages of classifying this virus," Hughes said. "We're not certain."
(Excerpt) Read more at abclocal.go.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Front Page News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gambianrats; monkeypox; orthopoxvirus; pox; prairiedog; prairiedogs; smallpox; vaccines
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To: flutters
Monkeypox. I wonder if that is why there was similarities to HIV referenced in earlier threads.
41
posted on
06/08/2003 6:19:15 AM PDT
by
Calpernia
(Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.)
To: Orange1998
Pet prairie dogs?
To: Squantos; Eaker; humblegunner; dix; Shooter 2.5; cpdiii; TEXASPROUD
I wonder how many of those little varmints we'd need to start a colony at Dietz's Range in New Braunfels?
That would be a lot more fun than targets!
HEY! PETA PEOPLE!!
Can you imagine what a .50 caliber round would do to the head of a prairie dog?
To: FairOpinion
Complacency is a dangerous thing.
To ever assume a disease has been "eradicated" and thusly behave as if it and related diseases pose no further threat, is foolish. The fact is, all the diseases that most people assume are history, are still present in the Third World, including the Plague.
44
posted on
06/08/2003 7:09:17 AM PDT
by
visualops
(Just 'cause I'm only a tagline doesn't mean I can't order my own pizza demmit.)
To: visualops
Bubonic plague still pops up on a regular basis in some of our Western states.
You might want to take care how you sling the words "third world" around.HeHe. ;O)
To: patriciaruth
Anybody know if Gambian rats, etc, have to stay in quarantine before being allowed free range in the U.S.?Please excuse me for posting my own personal paranoia, but this has bothered me for some time: What is to stop a human with a particularly nasty disease from being purposefully put on a plane to the US, and funded to travel as far and fast as they can (subways, airports, Penn Station, etc.) to spread maximum contagion.
46
posted on
06/08/2003 7:53:15 AM PDT
by
P.O.E.
To: Calpernia; bonesmccoy
Monkeypox. I wonder if that is why there was similarities to HIV referenced in earlier threads. Zero similarities. HIV is an RNA virus which is why it mutates so quickly. Orthopox viruses like monkeypox store their genetic code as DNA, so they have a much lower rate of mutation.
To: Orange1998
Statement: " A virus related to smallpox that has never been detected in the Western Hemisphere...."
Response: Yet another application of the doctrine "Our Diversity Is Our Strength!" Diseases that we have never heard about. Asian diseases, African diseases, South American diseases. Soon the parasitical worms and flukes. Wait until one of these "Diverse" diseases explodes. It is rare that one is given the opportunity of seeing a false doctrine exposed as dangerous, by raw brute fact.
48
posted on
06/08/2003 8:02:36 AM PDT
by
AEMILIUS PAULUS
(Further, the statement assumed)
To: Paleo Conservative
That is not what I meant. We have a thread catalogued someplace that referenced something with the development. I can't look for it now. I'm on my way out.
49
posted on
06/08/2003 8:16:50 AM PDT
by
Calpernia
(Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.)
To: wardaddy; Squantos
Yer little buddies...
![]( http://www.tomeaker.com/icons/a_lol.gif)
Eaker
50
posted on
06/08/2003 8:19:55 AM PDT
by
Eaker
(Adiós reality; I want to be a Jack-Ass millionaire!!............;<)
To: Squantos; wardaddy; TexasCowboy; TEXASPROUD; Double Tap
El Roy has developed a plan involving his .50 cal and the prairie dogs in a conga line!!!
Saves ammo................
Eaker
I don't think it will work!!!
51
posted on
06/08/2003 8:24:12 AM PDT
by
Eaker
(Adiós reality; I want to be a Jack-Ass millionaire!!............;<)
To: Betty Jo
Ping! hmmmm, whatchya think about this one?
52
posted on
06/08/2003 8:45:16 AM PDT
by
riri
To: TexasCowboy
I noticed the story of the guns found in the girl's bedroom.
The teenagers ground the serial numbers off stolen guns so I guess they won't be returned to the owner. Too bad. At least the kids are young enough so the owner can go after the parents.
53
posted on
06/08/2003 8:47:30 AM PDT
by
Shooter 2.5
(Don't punch holes in the lifeboat)
To: Calpernia
I like your Hawaii Dollar. Could it really be worth 80.00.
To: Eaker; humblegunner; Shooter 2.5
The problem I have is deciding how many prairie dogs are worth $4.89!
Never fear, though. By July 12th the ball ammo I ordered will be in.
I'll have two hundred rounds so everyone can shoot as much as they want.
To: TexasCowboy
I always wanted to get a couple of breeding pairs and drop them off along the river banks in Mesquite. All I would have to do is wait a couple of seasons and then offer my services.
56
posted on
06/08/2003 9:14:17 AM PDT
by
Shooter 2.5
(Don't punch holes in the lifeboat)
To: TexasCowboy
You better be careful when you start slinging that phrase, "Shoot as much as you want" with this bunch. LOL
57
posted on
06/08/2003 9:16:37 AM PDT
by
Shooter 2.5
(Don't punch holes in the lifeboat)
To: Squantos
"Sod Poodles"??
ROTFL.....we are gonna need a Squantos lexicon thread around here one day....
58
posted on
06/08/2003 9:21:14 AM PDT
by
wardaddy
(I was born my Papa's son....when I hit the ground I was on the run.....)
To: Eaker; wardaddy; Double Tap; TexasCowboy
I get a twofer every once in a while and even had a threefer once...............just don't tell my girl friday. She'd kick my butt or just shoot me before I could finish explainin.
BTW Understand this, If you even have a near miss with the .50BMG on a sod poodle, they still lose......:o)
Stay Safe !
59
posted on
06/08/2003 9:27:30 AM PDT
by
Squantos
(Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt.)
To: Shooter 2.5
G., if it were any gun but the Barrett, I'd have said, "within reason" - meaning a hundred rounds or so.
Anyone who can fire a hundred rounds from that Barrett and still pick up a knife and fork, I'll buy him the biggest steak in Houston.
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