Natural Health Newsletter

Randall Neustaedter OMD

Raccoons, prairie dogs, and airplanes

I am writing this article because of a rumor.

In a new twist on the prairie dog monkeypox story several individuals have questioned whether the monkeypox outbreak spread by these rodents could have been due to a far different source than a rat imported from Africa. Unbeknownst to many of us, veterinary health officials in several states have been distributing an oral rabies vaccine in the wild to control the spread of rabies in raccoons. This has been accomplished by dropping three-inch packets of bait containing the vaccine from airplanes. This rabies vaccine is bound to a vaccinia virus vaccine carrier. Therein lies the problem and the suspicion. Several individuals have raised concerns that the wild prairie dogs may have eaten these baits and then spread the vaccinia virus (the same virus used in the smallpox vaccine) to humans. Mary Sparrowdancer first voiced this possibility, implying that the vaccinia baits are causing monkeypox illness. She says,

“Several reports have stated that the infected prairie dogs carrying the ‘monkeypox-LIKE illness’ originated in Texas. It should be pointed out that Texas is one of the states that has been heavily involved in the above program of dropping the rabies/vaccinia biscuit baits from planes.”

This concern was published by Jeff Rense at his website. http://rense.com/general38/airc.htm

It was later picked up by Jon Rappaport and published at his website www.nomorefakenews.com. He suspects the CDC of consipiring to hide the connection between the vaccinia/rabies bait and the monkeypox outbreak.

While it is true that people have contracted the vaccinia virus from these baits (a report of such a case was published by Rupprecht in the New England Journal of Medicine), no one has proven that the bait has caused the monkeypox outbreak.

To answer this question of an association I spoke with a microbiologist at the CDC, Russ Regnery. He said that the possible connection between the vaccinia bait was discussed early on at the CDC when the monkeypox cases began appearing. They were very concerned about this possibility, but two tests have proven this is a monkeypox virus and not the vaccinia virus according to Regnery. A polymerase chain reaction DNA test was cross reactive for the monkeypox virus, and a hemagluttin gene analysis showed an exact match with the monkeypox virus gene.

Some have argued that monkeypox is just another way of disguising the return of smallpox into human populations. But monkeypox behaves much differently than smallpox. It is much less transmissible between humans, and a lot less deadly.

Rumors and suspicions spread easily. Although a healthy skepticism is always a good thing, we need to be responsible in our analysis and statements about vaccines and their association with adverse effects in order to discover the truth and have that truth recognized.

Randall Neustaedter OMD, LAc
Classical Medicine Center
1779 Woodside Rd #201C
Redwood City, CA 94061
650 299-9170

To review previous articles see www.cure-guide.com

Author of The Vaccine Guide, North Atlantic Books