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Tuesday, June 10, 2003 3 states battle monkeypox outbreakBy Nicole Ziegler Dizon | Associated Press CHICAGO — Health officials investigating an outbreak of monkeypox that apparently spread from pet prairie dogs to people in three Midwestern states said Monday the number of reported cases has risen to at least 37, including four that have been confirmed. It is the first time monkeypox, a smallpox-related virus normally found in Africa, has ever appeared in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seven people have been hospitalized; no one has died. Steve Ostroff, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases, said he expects the numbers to rise as human and animal samples are tested. But Ostroff said that only people who had direct contact with infected prairie dogs, or in one case a rabbit, have come down with the illness. "For the average citizen, I would not necessarily be concerned at this point of being exposed to monkeypox," he said. State health officials have reported 16 suspected cases in Wisconsin, 13 in Indiana and four in Illinois. Four cases have been confirmed in Wisconsin and Illinois. There have been no instances in this outbreak of the virus being spread from person to person, though that has happened in Africa in the past. Investigators said the prairie dogs were probably infected with the virus by a Gambian giant rat, which is native to Africa, at a Chicago-area pet distributor. The Illinois Department of Agriculture, along with state and federal health officials, is trying to track down 115 customers -- both individuals and pet stores -- that bought exotic animals from Phil's Pocket Pets since April 15. The distributor, Phillip Moberley, said Monday that he voluntarily quarantined his home-based business and put to death 70 prairie dogs. A 24-year-old employee of Moberley's has Illinois' only confirmed case of monkeypox. The outbreak is the latest in a long history of serious infections moving from animals to people. SARS is thought to have spread from wild civet cats to people in China. Other examples include West Nile virus, which spread from birds, and AIDS, which moved from chimpanzees. Monkeypox in humans is not usually fatal but causes rashes, fevers and chills. Doctors initially feared they might be facing smallpox, which causes similar symptoms. |
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