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American Morning
House Call: Monkeypox Spread
Aired June 16, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: There is a growing concern about the spread of Monkeypox in the U.S.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is here for his morning "House Call."
Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Had enough Monkeypox yet?
KAGAN: I'm kind of up to here on Monkeypox. But apparently it's spreading, and it's a concern. So, what do you have?
GUPTA: Well, the numbers do continue to grow. There is no question about it. Let's take a quick look at those numbers.
First of all around the country now, several states affected: Illinois, 19 cases; Indiana, 26; Ohio, 2; Missouri, 1, that's the new case; Wisconsin, 34. Those are all suspected cases. There are 17 confirmed cases, confirming by laboratory studies these are confirmed cases.
Now, likely these numbers will continue to grow, Daryn. They'll continue to likely affect some more states as well. We certainly saw that with West Nile virus, although West Nile virus being transmitted by mosquitoes, which are much more ubiquitous than the prairie dogs and certainly more ubiquitous than the Gambian rats we've heard so much about.
We live in a society of super-travelers and exotic pets, and this is probably one of the consequences of that. This particular disease, again, previous to this not located in the Western hemisphere; located only in the rain forests of Africa. This particular Gambian rat that we're hearing so much about probably came from Ghana, so from a long ways away, but this disease is probably here to stay now.
Interesting thing, one thing people ask me a lot about is the Gambian rat, and there are three governmental organizations that actually oversee the importation of exotic pets -- the Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and the Fish and Wildlife Service -- but apparently Gambian rats can get through all of that.
Just really quick, the symptoms of Monkeypox obviously a concern. A question for a lot of people, if you look at some of the symptoms, you're talking about swollen lymph nodes, fever, headaches, muscle aches and exhaustion. And finally, they say 1 to 10 percent of people die from this, but the numbers come from medically underserved regions in Africa. Those numbers probably won't apply in the United States as long as people get good medical care and recognize this early.
KAGAN: And just real quickly, people-to-people, can you get it that way?
GUPTA: It's still a bit of a subject of debate. There was some concern that maybe a couple of cases in Wisconsin actually had been transmitted person-to-person. It can happen. They know that from Africa. That's where they've learned most about this disease. Those cases may not be confirmed as Monkeypox as of yet, but, you know, it's a possibility that it might happen in this country as well.
KAGAN: Dr. Gupta, thank you. We'll see you in the next hour.
GUPTA: Good to see you, yes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 16, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: There is a growing concern about the spread of Monkeypox in the U.S.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is here for his morning "House Call."
Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Had enough Monkeypox yet?
KAGAN: I'm kind of up to here on Monkeypox. But apparently it's spreading, and it's a concern. So, what do you have?
GUPTA: Well, the numbers do continue to grow. There is no question about it. Let's take a quick look at those numbers.
First of all around the country now, several states affected: Illinois, 19 cases; Indiana, 26; Ohio, 2; Missouri, 1, that's the new case; Wisconsin, 34. Those are all suspected cases. There are 17 confirmed cases, confirming by laboratory studies these are confirmed cases.
Now, likely these numbers will continue to grow, Daryn. They'll continue to likely affect some more states as well. We certainly saw that with West Nile virus, although West Nile virus being transmitted by mosquitoes, which are much more ubiquitous than the prairie dogs and certainly more ubiquitous than the Gambian rats we've heard so much about.
We live in a society of super-travelers and exotic pets, and this is probably one of the consequences of that. This particular disease, again, previous to this not located in the Western hemisphere; located only in the rain forests of Africa. This particular Gambian rat that we're hearing so much about probably came from Ghana, so from a long ways away, but this disease is probably here to stay now.
Interesting thing, one thing people ask me a lot about is the Gambian rat, and there are three governmental organizations that actually oversee the importation of exotic pets -- the Department of Agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and the Fish and Wildlife Service -- but apparently Gambian rats can get through all of that.
Just really quick, the symptoms of Monkeypox obviously a concern. A question for a lot of people, if you look at some of the symptoms, you're talking about swollen lymph nodes, fever, headaches, muscle aches and exhaustion. And finally, they say 1 to 10 percent of people die from this, but the numbers come from medically underserved regions in Africa. Those numbers probably won't apply in the United States as long as people get good medical care and recognize this early.
KAGAN: And just real quickly, people-to-people, can you get it that way?
GUPTA: It's still a bit of a subject of debate. There was some concern that maybe a couple of cases in Wisconsin actually had been transmitted person-to-person. It can happen. They know that from Africa. That's where they've learned most about this disease. Those cases may not be confirmed as Monkeypox as of yet, but, you know, it's a possibility that it might happen in this country as well.
KAGAN: Dr. Gupta, thank you. We'll see you in the next hour.
GUPTA: Good to see you, yes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
