[genefromjersey]

The prairie dogs don't have henta: they have African monkeypox, which has been traced to an exotic pet distributor in the midwest, who had imported a Giant Gambia Rat ( Lord knows why !! ) from Africa. The big rodents are sometimes carriers of the pox, and this one was infected.

Symptoms are quite similar to smallpox ( and smallpox vaccination does protect against it ).Mortality rate is 1-10% - compared to the 30-40% rate of smallpox.

Nonetheless,the lesson is clear: trading in or keeping exotic pets opens the doors to all manner of nasty possibilities !

[Terridan]

Monkey Pox, as West Nile Virus, will be played down. No way this is a natural occurance of a prairie dog getting infected... yes the distributor brought in exotic animals, but this is just another hole in what is wrong with our "National Security". Who would have thought this would happen so easily? Especially when John Doe citizen must quarentine ANY animal brought into this country? This is only the beginning... Stay well!