ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Pet prairie dogs may be spreading a pox-like illness to people in the upper Midwest, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning.
Cases of the illness first appeared early last month, with the most recent one identified June 3, and a number of people have been hospitalized, said Dr. James Hughes, director of CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases.
A total of 19 cases have been reported, including 17 in Wisconsin and one each in Illinois and Indiana, state health officials said. Four people, ages 4 to 48, have been hospitalized in Wisconsin, said Dr. Jeffrey Davis, the state's chief epidemiologist. No human deaths have been reported.
Most patients had direct or close contact with ill prairie dogs, health officials said.
The CDC investigation determined that the symptoms were caused by a virus from the pox family and are consistent with monkeypox, Hughes said.
If confirmed, it would be the first known infection of humans with the virus in the Western Hemisphere, he added.
Health officials traced the U.S. illnesses to prairie dogs sold by a Milwaukee pet distributor to two pet shops in Milwaukee and during a pet swap in northern Wisconsin, Hughes said.
The Milwaukee distributor got the animals from a distributor in Illinois who had kept the prairie dogs in a container with a Gambian rat, another popular rodent pet, the CDC said.
Health officials said they suspect the rat was the source of the infection, because tests have shown Gambian rats have antibodies to monkeypox.
Animals from the Illinois distributor may have been sold in several other states, raising the specter of a wider spread of the illness, Hughes said.
A complicating factor in tracking them is that prairie dogs are often traded informally at swap meets.
Hughes said close contact with prairie dogs or Gambian rats could put people at risk.
"It's very important that a physician, veterinarians and the public should be aware of this very unusual outbreak and be on the lookout for symptoms," Hughes said.
"The public, if they experience illness in themselves or family members, should report this promptly to their physicians."
In Wisconsin, the cases involve members of households that own prairie dogs, and a painter who worked at one of the homes, Davis said.
In one case, the owner of an infected rabbit became ill, Davis said. The rabbit had been treated at the same clinic where a sick prairie dog was being treated; the rabbit died and the owner came down with symptoms.
The ailment is believed to be monkeypox, which has been shown to be susceptible to Cidofovir, an antiviral agent used to treat smallpox, said Dr. Peter Jahrling, a scientific adviser for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases.
Davis said he signed an emergency order Friday prohibiting the importation, sale, distribution, or public display of any prairie dogs received after April 1. The order also applies to any other animals that come into contact with these prairie dogs.
Davis said seven prairie dogs have been euthanized in Milwaukee, and a number of others have died of the disease.
Monkeypox was first recognized in 1971, in the waning days of the smallpox eradication effort, Jahrling said.
Monkeypox is rare and occurs primarily in the rainforest countries of Central and West Africa. It is similar to but less infectious than smallpox, Hughes added.
The health officials advised physicians, veterinarians and the public to report to public health authorities any instances of rash illness, fever, cough, headache, muscle ache or lymph node enlargement within three weeks after exposure to prairie dogs, Gambian rats and other animals.
The CDC statement advised veterinarians examining or treating sick rodents, rabbits and such exotic pets as prairie dogs and Gambian rats to wear gloves, surgical masks or N-95 respirators and gowns.
On the Net:
CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r030607.htm
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection: http://datcp.state.wi.us/index.jsp
Cases of the illness first appeared early last month, with the most recent one identified June 3, and a number of people have been hospitalized, said Dr. James Hughes, director of CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases.
A total of 19 cases have been reported, including 17 in Wisconsin and one each in Illinois and Indiana, state health officials said. Four people, ages 4 to 48, have been hospitalized in Wisconsin, said Dr. Jeffrey Davis, the state's chief epidemiologist. No human deaths have been reported.
Most patients had direct or close contact with ill prairie dogs, health officials said.
The CDC investigation determined that the symptoms were caused by a virus from the pox family and are consistent with monkeypox, Hughes said.
If confirmed, it would be the first known infection of humans with the virus in the Western Hemisphere, he added.
Health officials traced the U.S. illnesses to prairie dogs sold by a Milwaukee pet distributor to two pet shops in Milwaukee and during a pet swap in northern Wisconsin, Hughes said.
The Milwaukee distributor got the animals from a distributor in Illinois who had kept the prairie dogs in a container with a Gambian rat, another popular rodent pet, the CDC said.
Health officials said they suspect the rat was the source of the infection, because tests have shown Gambian rats have antibodies to monkeypox.
Animals from the Illinois distributor may have been sold in several other states, raising the specter of a wider spread of the illness, Hughes said.
A complicating factor in tracking them is that prairie dogs are often traded informally at swap meets.
Hughes said close contact with prairie dogs or Gambian rats could put people at risk.
"It's very important that a physician, veterinarians and the public should be aware of this very unusual outbreak and be on the lookout for symptoms," Hughes said.
"The public, if they experience illness in themselves or family members, should report this promptly to their physicians."
In Wisconsin, the cases involve members of households that own prairie dogs, and a painter who worked at one of the homes, Davis said.
In one case, the owner of an infected rabbit became ill, Davis said. The rabbit had been treated at the same clinic where a sick prairie dog was being treated; the rabbit died and the owner came down with symptoms.
The ailment is believed to be monkeypox, which has been shown to be susceptible to Cidofovir, an antiviral agent used to treat smallpox, said Dr. Peter Jahrling, a scientific adviser for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases.
Davis said he signed an emergency order Friday prohibiting the importation, sale, distribution, or public display of any prairie dogs received after April 1. The order also applies to any other animals that come into contact with these prairie dogs.
Davis said seven prairie dogs have been euthanized in Milwaukee, and a number of others have died of the disease.
Monkeypox was first recognized in 1971, in the waning days of the smallpox eradication effort, Jahrling said.
Monkeypox is rare and occurs primarily in the rainforest countries of Central and West Africa. It is similar to but less infectious than smallpox, Hughes added.
The health officials advised physicians, veterinarians and the public to report to public health authorities any instances of rash illness, fever, cough, headache, muscle ache or lymph node enlargement within three weeks after exposure to prairie dogs, Gambian rats and other animals.
The CDC statement advised veterinarians examining or treating sick rodents, rabbits and such exotic pets as prairie dogs and Gambian rats to wear gloves, surgical masks or N-95 respirators and gowns.
On the Net:
CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r030607.htm
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection: http://datcp.state.wi.us/index.jsp
