Officials Scramble to Contain Monkeypox

The Washington Post ^ | June 9, 2003 | Rob Stein

[FairOpinion]

Health officials are investigating at least 29 suspected cases of people in three Midwestern states who may have been stricken in the outbreak so far, which state and federal health officials are urgently working to contain.

State and federal authorities are tracing about 200 animals that were distributed in 15 states by an exotic pet dealer in Illinois. The dealer sold rodents known as prairie dogs, which are believed to be the source of the outbreak.

In addition to trying to prevent more infections, officials are worried that the animals could spread the disease to wild rabbits and other indigenous creatures, allowing the virus to become entrenched in the United States. The last time a new disease became established in this country was in 1999, when the West Nile virus arrived. It has subsequently spread nationwide.

[Judith Anne]

I mostly do ping lists by memory, and mine is poor, but I'll try to remember...;-D

I don't actually have a ping list, I'm so ashamed...;-D

[backhoe]

Yes, I think that's a good keyword... BTW, there is older WMD info here:

-The Poor-Boy Nuke-- Bioterrorism***

The little shop of NBC Horrors-- Yellow Rain-

NBC/ABC Warfare Survival Skills Links

[berserker]

Jill Cox, a member of the animal care staff at the Hogle Zoo, shows off their giant Gambian rat Monday, June 9, 2003, in Salt Lake City. Tests have confirmed that four people in Wisconsin contracted the monkeypox virus after coming into close contact with pet prairie dogs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Saturday the prairie dogs likely were infected with the virus by a giant Gambian rat, which is indigenous to Africa, at a Chicago-area pet distributor. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)

[berserker]

This photo from the Center for Disease Control shows a child's infected finger two weeks after being bitten by a monkeypox infected prairie dog on May 13, 2003 in Dorchester, WI. The child was released after a one-week stay in a hospital on May 29 following treatment, according to the CDC. Public health officials in three states tried on June 9 to track down pet prairie dogs believed spreading a smallpox-like illness, not seen before in the Western Hemisphere, that may have infected 33 people. Photo by Center For Disease Control/Reuters

[Orange1998]

Sure are. The article mentions importer from Texas. I wonder what city.

[Orange1998]

Prairie Dog? They are rat as far as I am concerned. The SOB are bitting humans. The picture looks like a serious bite.

[blam]

"When they talked about a new economy, I had no idea it was going to be survivalist based."

LOL You made a funny. (Now, go get that measles shot, young lady)