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American Morning

Monkeypox Virus

Aired June 10, 2003 - 08:42   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: We are looking at the monkeypox outbreak. Dozens of people in the Midwest have come down with this disease. Monkeys have nothing to do with it, though. It's a virus apparently spread from pet prairie dogs to people in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Prairie dogs and other exotic pets are being quarantined as officials try to stop the spread of monkeypox. It's the first spread in the Western hemisphere of this disease, which resembles smallpox.
With us now from Milwaukee, the city's health commissioner, Dr. Seth Foldy.

Dr. Foldy, thanks for being with us.

First of all, how big of a problem is this for folks in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin?

DR. SETH FOLDY, MILWAUKEE HEALTH COMMISSIONER: Well, in the three states there maybe three dozen patient or so suspected of having monkeypox, and all of these individuals to date have had close contact with a sick animal, prairie dog in almost every case, and in one case, possibly another small rodent that was in contact with a sick prairie dog. So it's a pretty small community of people and animals up to this point.

KAGAN: So we're talking about perhaps people who keep prayer dogs as pets, not people living in rural communities where there might be a lot of prairie dogs running around.

FOLDY: That's right. We don't have evidence of the spread of the virus into the wild prairie dog population, although that is something that would be very, very important to prevent.

KAGAN: Because you don't want people releasing their pet prairie dogs into the wild, because that could be an uncontrollable situation.

FOLDY: Yes, that's part of our advice.

KAGAN: Why is it popping up now?

FOLDY: We know that this is a virus that is endemic, that is to say it's constantly circulating among small mammals in central and western Africa. The increased interest in exotic animals as pets or for home display apparently is bringing these animals into the United States. They are coming into contact with other small mammals at pet distributors, and they're ending up in American homes.

KAGAN: So let's talk about exactly how you get it. First of all, can an infected person give it to another person?

FOLDY: We believe that's possible, although we haven't seen it up to this point. There's every reason to believe that the skin lesions of a monkeypox victim should be considered infectious to others by direct contact. We have not seen any strong evidence of respiratory spread, but we're advising that health care facilities and people's homes that they take measures to prevent respiratory spread in the possible they that could occur.

KAGAN: I think one thing that's interesting about this, we are talking about a virus jumping from one species to another. That sounds a lot like SARS, how that started and the concern with that.

FOLDY: Yes. Diseases are hosted in a variety of animals around the globe, and many of them are not infectious to humans. Some of them are infectious. Monkeypox has been known to be infectious to humans since the 1970s. However, other viruses, perhaps like the SARS virus, have learned how to make the jump into the human population.

KAGAN: Finally, I have to ask you, do we know why it's called monkey pox if it has nothing to do with monkeys?

FOLDY: Well, there are monkeys that are affected clinically in central and western Africa.

KAGAN: So that's where it comes from.

Dr. Seth Foley, from Milwaukee, thank you, appreciate it, sir.

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 10, 2003 - 08:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are looking at the monkeypox outbreak. Dozens of people in the Midwest have come down with this disease. Monkeys have nothing to do with it, though. It's a virus apparently spread from pet prairie dogs to people in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. Prairie dogs and other exotic pets are being quarantined as officials try to stop the spread of monkeypox. It's the first spread in the Western hemisphere of this disease, which resembles smallpox.
With us now from Milwaukee, the city's health commissioner, Dr. Seth Foldy.

Dr. Foldy, thanks for being with us.

First of all, how big of a problem is this for folks in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin?

DR. SETH FOLDY, MILWAUKEE HEALTH COMMISSIONER: Well, in the three states there maybe three dozen patient or so suspected of having monkeypox, and all of these individuals to date have had close contact with a sick animal, prairie dog in almost every case, and in one case, possibly another small rodent that was in contact with a sick prairie dog. So it's a pretty small community of people and animals up to this point.

KAGAN: So we're talking about perhaps people who keep prayer dogs as pets, not people living in rural communities where there might be a lot of prairie dogs running around.

FOLDY: That's right. We don't have evidence of the spread of the virus into the wild prairie dog population, although that is something that would be very, very important to prevent.

KAGAN: Because you don't want people releasing their pet prairie dogs into the wild, because that could be an uncontrollable situation.

FOLDY: Yes, that's part of our advice.

KAGAN: Why is it popping up now?

FOLDY: We know that this is a virus that is endemic, that is to say it's constantly circulating among small mammals in central and western Africa. The increased interest in exotic animals as pets or for home display apparently is bringing these animals into the United States. They are coming into contact with other small mammals at pet distributors, and they're ending up in American homes.

KAGAN: So let's talk about exactly how you get it. First of all, can an infected person give it to another person?

FOLDY: We believe that's possible, although we haven't seen it up to this point. There's every reason to believe that the skin lesions of a monkeypox victim should be considered infectious to others by direct contact. We have not seen any strong evidence of respiratory spread, but we're advising that health care facilities and people's homes that they take measures to prevent respiratory spread in the possible they that could occur.

KAGAN: I think one thing that's interesting about this, we are talking about a virus jumping from one species to another. That sounds a lot like SARS, how that started and the concern with that.

FOLDY: Yes. Diseases are hosted in a variety of animals around the globe, and many of them are not infectious to humans. Some of them are infectious. Monkeypox has been known to be infectious to humans since the 1970s. However, other viruses, perhaps like the SARS virus, have learned how to make the jump into the human population.

KAGAN: Finally, I have to ask you, do we know why it's called monkey pox if it has nothing to do with monkeys?

FOLDY: Well, there are monkeys that are affected clinically in central and western Africa.

KAGAN: So that's where it comes from.

Dr. Seth Foley, from Milwaukee, thank you, appreciate it, sir.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com