Reading blogoSFERICS, I ran across this Washington Post Story.
At least 19 people in three Midwestern states have contracted a disease related to smallpox, marking the first outbreak of the life-threatening illness in the United States, federal heath officials said yesterday.It appears they contracted the disease from their pet prairie dogs, who might have been exposed to the African monkey pox virus by being in close proximity to Gambian giant rats during possession by the exotic pet dealer.
While much about the monkeypox virus is unclear, it does not seem to be as deadly as smallpox. Authorities estimate that monkeypox has a mortality rate of between 1 percent and 10 percent, compared with a mortality rate of about 30 percent for smallpox.
blogoSFERICS attributed the Drudge Report for the find.
Posted by Tiger at June 8, 2003 09:49 AM