U.S. Monkeypox Cases Rise to 48
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A search for the source of monkeypox -- a smallpox-like illness not seen before in the Americas -- stretched from the Great Lakes to Texas on Tuesday as the number of suspected and confirmed cases rose to 48.
"Close contact with sick prairie dogs, Gambian rats and other exotic animals should be minimized immediately," warned Robert Teclaw, state epidemiologist for Indiana where 10 new cases were reported. "Owners of such animals should contact a veterinarian and consult with them on the situation."
Public health workers were trying to track down dozens of prairie dogs possibly infected with the smallpox family virus and sold as pets during the past two months in Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois. While the monkeypox illness is not as harmful as smallpox, officials feared the virus could leap into native wildlife such as squirrels and become endemic, creating a new health hazard in the hemisphere.
The Texas Department of Health said federal agricultural officials had ordered two dealers in that state not to buy or sell any animals until the health of those now in their possession had been checked out.
That action came after a Chicago-area exotic pet dealer said he bought from a Texas breeder Gambian giant rats apparently carrying the virus that then spread to his prairie dogs.
Doug McBride, a spokesman for the department, said: "It appears that there was a shipment of Gambian rats and maybe some other animals from Africa to a Texas dealer. We and other agencies are involved in tracking down those animals to see what health they are in and if there have been any human illnesses."
So far, no suspect animal or human cases had been found in Texas, he said. McBride also said investigators had not been able to place the Gambian rats at the same location with any prairie dogs in Texas, leading them to conclude the infection spread after the animals left the state.
Prairie dogs, a member of the squirrel family, are shipped by the thousands from the Plains states every year for use as pets. Ranchers consider them nuisances because of the holes they dig to house their colonies.
The disease is not fatal in all cases in prairie dogs. It causes an eye infection and nose lesions in the animals, which can be spread to humans when they handle them.
There are 20 confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox in Wisconsin, 23 in Indiana and five in Illinois.