National
Desk
| June 9, 2003, Monday
Less Lethal
Cousin of Smallpox Arrives in the U.S.
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN and JODI
WILGOREN (NYT) 1754 words
Late Edition - Final , Section A ,
Page 1 , Column 2
ABSTRACT
- Monkeypox, viral disease related to
smallpox but less infectious and less
deadly, is detected for first time in
Americas; Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention says at least 23 cases have been
reported in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana;
all patients had direct or close contact
with ill prairie dogs; they have become fad
in exotic-pet market and might have caught
monkeypox from another species, possibly
Gambian giant pouched rats, which are
imported as pets from West or Central
Africa, where disease has long occurred; in
Africa, monkeypox is carried mainly by
squirrels but named after monkeys because it
often kills them; several patients in
American outbreak work for veterinarians or
pet stores that sell prairie dogs and
Gambian rats; no patients have died and four
have been hospitalized; symptoms described;
most monkeypox patients become ill 4 to 12
days after exposure to sick animal, but
incubation period may be as long as 20 days;
federal disease centers issues health alert
about monkeypox; hope is that by quickly
identifying animals that can be infected
with monkeypox, they can be eliminated
before disease becomes endemic in US and in
Americas; photos; chart (L) Monkeypox, a
viral disease related to smallpox but less
infectious and less deadly, has been
detected for the first time in the Americas,
with at least 23 cases reported in three
Midwestern states, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said yesterday.
Wisconsin reported 18 cases (15 suspected
and 3 confirmed); Illinois reported four
(one confirmed); and Indiana reported a
single case. The patients ranged in age from
4 to 48 and became ill from May 15 to June
3. All had had direct or close contact with
ill prairie dogs, which have become a fad in
the exotic-pet market and which might have
caught monkeypox from another species,
possibly Gambian giant pouched rats; the
rats are imported as pets from West or
Central Africa, where the disease has long
occurred. Monkeypox in Africa is carried
mainly by squirrels but named after monkeys
because it often kills them.
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