At least 19 sick with monkeypox

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At least 19 sick with 'monkeypox' in Midwest

Rob Stein

Washington Post

Published 06/08/2003

 

At least 19 people in three Midwestern states have a disease related

to smallpox, marking the first outbreak of the life-threatening

illness in the United States, federal heath officials said Saturday.

 

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),

concerned that the illness could spread, issued a nationwide alert to

doctors and public health officials to be on the lookout for more

cases.

 

" We have an outbreak, " said James Hughes, director of the CDC's

National Center for Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.

 

The disease, known as monkeypox, usually occurs in central and

western Africa. It is caused by a virus known as an orthopox virus,

which is the family of viruses that includes smallpox, one of the

most dangerous diseases known to man and one of the most-feared

biological weapons.

 

Officials said there was no indication that bioterrorism was

involved. The disease was apparently spread by a type of rodent known

as a prairie dog, which has become a popular pet. The animals may

have acquired the infection from another creature, known as a Gambian

giant rat, sold by the same dealer of exotic animals, officials said.

 

Most of the cases are in the Milwaukee area, with one case each in

Illinois and Indiana.

 

The monkeypox virus causes symptoms that are very similar to

smallpox -- fever, headache, cough and an extremely painful rash of

pus-filled sores that spreads across the body.

 

While much about the monkeypox virus is unclear, it is not believed

to be as deadly as smallpox. Monkeypox is believed to have a

mortality rate of between 1 percent and 10 percent, compared with a

rate of about 30 percent for smallpox.

 

The monkeypox virus is believed to spread through physical contact

with a sick person or infected animal, or through infected body

fluids.

 

Monkeypox is untreatable, although there is some indication that an

antiviral drug may have some usefulness. Because the disease has

never been seen before in this part of the world, the severity of the

threat is not completely clear. All patients and infected animals

have been isolated to prevent spread of the disease. The smallpox

vaccine is believed to protect against monkeypox. The federal

government recently began a campaign to vaccinate thousands of

emergency workers against smallpox so the country would be prepared

in the event of a bioterrorist attack.

 

Of the 19 cases reported so far, four of the victims have been

hospitalized; none has died, Hughes said.

 

The state of Wisconsin has temporarily banned the sale of prairie

dogs.

 

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