Pox-Like Outbreak Reported

Washinton Post ^ | 6/8/03 | Rob Stein

[Pro-Bush]

At least 19 people in three Midwestern states have contracted a disease related to smallpox, marking the first outbreak of the life-threatening illness in the United States, federal heath officials said yesterday.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concerned that the illness could spread, issued a nationwide alert to doctors and public health officials to be on the lookout for more cases.

"We have an outbreak," said James Hughes, director of the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases in Atlanta. "I'd like to keep it relatively small. I don't want any more cases. We're doing everything we can to try to contain this."

[BagCamAddict]

** Also, does anyone know which two pet stores in Milwaukee I should be staying away from?

ANY pet store that sells live puppies or kittens, for starters (puppy-mill and kitten-mill supporters/perpetuators).

[honeygrl]

"ANY pet store that sells live puppies or kittens, for starters (puppy-mill and kitten-mill supporters/perpetuators). "

Yeah, just support the ones that sell dead kittens and puppies.

[BagCamAddict]

Good catch. ;-)

[reformed_dem]

When I glanced at the heading, I thought it said FOX-like outbreak reported. I thought all the networks were finally realizing their mistake and were going fair and balanced. ;-)

[honeygrl]

"Maybe you should consider finding a new home for your son as well. Both creatures seem to have little support. "

They are both causing me mental anguish.... can I sue a toddler and a cat?

[LurkedLongEnough]

Very series. Here is the Press Release from CDC Media Relations on June 7, 2003. Sorry it's so hugh.

Public Health Investigation Uncovers First Outbreak of Human Monkeypox Infection in Western Hemisphere

"Public health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the states of Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana have reported the first outbreak of human infections with a monkeypox-like virus to be documented in the Western Hemisphere. Thus far, 19 cases have been reported: 17 in Wisconsin, one in Northern Illinois, and one in Northern Indiana. All patients who have become ill reported direct or close contact with ill prairie dogs.

CDC is advising physicians, veterinarians, and the public to report instances of rash illness associated with exposure to prairie dogs, Gambian rats and other animals to local and state public health authorities. CDC also has issued interim recommendations for infection control calling for health care personnel attending hospitalized patients to follow standard precautions for guarding against airborne or contact illness. Veterinarians examining or treating sick rodents, rabbits and such exotic pets as prairie dogs and Gambian rats are advised to use personal protective equipment, including gloves, surgical mask or N-95 respirator, and gowns."

Click on the press release link for the whole thing.

[Conservative til I die]

between 1 percent and 10 percent, compared with a mortality rate of about 30 percent for smallpox. "I guess this is suppose to be good news? "

I'd say so, relatively speaking. I mean, a 1% mortality rate ain't bad, if the disease is confined to a few dozen people.

[tallhappy]

This could be series!

What a scummy cheesy thing to say.

You are a moron.

[Free Trapper]

The laws are different in each state but with the proper Commercial,Professional or Special licenses and permits,many different types of animals can be taken,kept and sold,legally,both dead and alive for different uses in different areas.

When dealing in wild animals,extreme care has to be taken so as not to break any State or Federal laws.

Big fines and prison terms come to many folks that can't stay away from the enticement of the big,easy money to be made in the illegal trade.

[netmilsmom]

>>They are both causing me mental anguish.... can I sue a toddler and a cat?<<

Nope. Ditch the kitten, put the two year old down for a nap and have a wine cooler. Maybe a few!

[decimon]

Okay...so we immunize against smallpox with cowpox which should also protect against monkeypox. Is there then a single immunizing pox to be a pox on all the poxes?

[Guenevere]

You are serious, right?
You eat armadillos????
Really?

This is a sincere question....Why would you eat them if you knew they might carry leprosy?

In my county, a large university has been studying their connection to leprosy for years.

Perhaps you are jiving me????

[Orlando]

Here's a update from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel(June 7th):


http://www.jsonline.com/alive/news/jun03/146686.asp



"A painter got sick after being in a home where a prairie dog was located".
It's a airborne virus?, Oh S***!

[stlnative]

I bet this shipment with the Gambian Rat(s) came out of Mexico before coming into Texas and then to Illinois.

This pisses me off because people are going see Prairie Dogs as the cause of this. The thing is if it spreads we will see other animals also infected with the virus. The original source of the Monkeypox has to be from a Gambian Rat that was recently smuggled in from Africa, as we would have seen it here before now. The Gambian Rats that we had here before this were probably born and raised here from breeders as they have been in this country for some time and are considered exotic pets. Then some fool recently decides to import a new one(s?) directly from Africa bringing the monkeypox with it.

Gambian Rats should be outlawed in the USA

[Orlando]

Here's a left field idea, i am good on those :)
They say it came from Texas? . Here's my question; "Did Columbia have Rats on ship ?

[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.

[stlnative]

Ping to post #116 - Newest Release on the Prairie Dogs

[stlnative]

I have no idea - This is probably just a case of Gambian Rats being imported into this country directly from Africa - Chance are they came across the Tex/Mex border. I would think their would be enough generations of domesticated Gambian Rats in this country already, but some fool decided to bring in at least one more directly from Africa recently. They should not be in this country at all and it makes me wonder if these large rats can breed with american rats. (makes me think of New York and the huge rats they have)

[Free Trapper]

HaHa,no jive,they're a favorite around my place.We like tacos,etc.made out of them and there's some leftover in the fridge right now,plus the shell baskets are pretty.

As for leprosy,people catch it,along with other things,and you go to places where you have a lot of people to bump into?That's spooky to me.;O)

"Any" critter you handle for "any" reason should be given a good checkout before its use.Just use common sense. :O)

[paix]

Armadillos have recently invaded us here in southern Missouri. Nasty, destructive creatures. I gave one on my hit list who digs in my garden regularily at night.

Doing some research on the leporacy connection, I found that it is found in the soil in various locations and because armadillos dig, that's how they come in contact with it.

I have also run across some tinfoil(?) information about armadillos that have escaped from a lab in Arkansas that were carriers of this disease.

Regardless, I would never eat one, but I would shoot it on sight.