Jeff Davis, the state epidemiologist, said Wisconsin officials were going ahead with the offers of smallpox vaccination, as recommended by the federal government.

Also Friday, Davis said two health care workers who fell ill after treating patients with the monkeypox virus likely did not contract the disease, as some had speculated.

The two women and one of their boyfriends showed symptoms similar to those of monkeypox, raising the possibility that the virus had been transmitted from one human to another for the first time in the United States.

But Davis said further examinations suggest they do not have the disease, although the state was still waiting for test results from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to rule out monkeypox in the cases.

"We're not saying anything final until we get those test results," Davis said.

The Monkeypox vaccine can prevent the disease up to two weeks after exposure to the virus and is most effective in the first four days.

But some health officials are wary. In rare cases the vaccine can cause serious and even deadly side effects.

Davis said there was no need for vaccinations for the general public; those notified by a hospital or health department that they may have been exposed will be eligible for the vaccinations.

Monkeypox, a west African disease never before seen in the Western Hemisphere, is related to smallpox but is not as lethal. It causes rashes, chills and fever.

By Friday, state health officials had confirmed a total of 12 human cases of the disease in this country: four each in Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois. Also, 71 possible cases had been reported - 22 in Indiana, 30 in Wisconsin, 15 in Illinois, two in Ohio and one each in Arizona and Kentucky.

Monkeypox is typically transmitted from animal to animal, but in rare cases it can pass from human to human, Davis said.

No one has died from the disease in the United States, but at least 14 patients with symptoms have been hospitalized, including a child with encephalitis, or brain inflammation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Federal health officials said monkeypox-infected prairie dogs from one source - Phil's Pocket Pets of Villa Park, Ill. - may have been sold to numerous buyers in 15 states. They said a Gambian giant rat, a native of Africa, apparently infected a group of prairie dogs at the business.

In another development Friday, Donna Gilson, a spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, said investigators now believe 39 prairie dogs were shipped in five groups into Wisconsin since April 15 from Phil's Pocket Pets.

The agency earlier had reported that 28 to 30 prairie dogs were shipped into the state.

Gilson said all but five prairie dogs have been accounted for - 24 died or were put to death; 10 are alive and recovering or were never sick.

Agriculture officials believe three of the remaining prairie dogs are probably healthy based on when they were shipped to Wisconsin, Gilson said. One of the remaining two was sold May 11 at an animal swap meet in Wausau where another prairie dog was known to have the disease.

The 39th prairie dog is "just unaccounted for," she said.

Medical facilities have been receiving calls from concerned owners of prairie dogs, which have become increasingly popular pets. But people generally have remained calm, said Mark McLaughlin, spokesman for Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Milwaukee, which has treated seven patients with suspected monkeypox.

"I don't see this creating any sort of public panic and it shouldn't," McLaughlin said.

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On the Net:

Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services: http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/

AP-ES-06-14-03 0514EDT