First SARS and Now Monkeypox

Once again the news media has the monkeypox stories all told and most of you know quite a lot about this disease already. However, as with the past article I thought rounding up a little more information could be helpful. Especially if you are an owner of a Gambian giant rat or a prairie dog. People are getting very unusual pets these days. I guess I would never have thought anyone would want a prairie dog let alone a giant rat as a pet.

With these unusual pets come some unusual diseases. Especially those pets imported from other countries. It appears that an animal vendor (people who sell animals to pet stores) obtained some prairie dogs from another animal vendor who kept his prairie dogs in close proximity to some Gambian giant rats imported from Africa. Apparently, the Gambian giant rats had monkeypox and gave it to the prairie dogs. The infected prairie dogs then infected people in several different states in the United States [Wisconsin (n = 38), Indiana (n = 24), Illinois (n = 19), Ohio (n = 4), Kansas (n = 1), and Missouri (n = 1)]. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control is investigating 79 suspected cases of human monkeypox.

Monkeypox is a rare disease that is most commonly seen in the countries of central and western Africa. It was called "monkeypox" because the disease was initially reported in 1958 in laboratory monkeys. A number of other animals and humans can also get monkeypox. These include African squirrels, rats, mice and rabbits. The first human case of monkeypox was reported in 1970. Now we know that American prairie dogs can also get monkeypox. 

The disease is caused by the Monkeypox virus. This virus belongs to a group of viruses that includes the smallpox virus (variola), the virus used in the smallpox vaccine (vaccinia), and the cowpox virus. In humans, the signs and symptoms of monkeypox are like those of smallpox, except that they are usually much milder and people with monkeypox have swollen lymph nodes and those with smallpox do not.

About 12 days after having contact with an animal infected with monkeypox the following signs and symptoms may occur: fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes and they will feel tired. From 1-3 days after the start of the fever a bumpy rash will form on the person's skin. The rash usually starts on on the face and then spreads to other parts of their body. The bumps will fill with fluid, break, crust over and then heal. To see a picture of what

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