2003 Midwest monkeypox outbreak
| 2003 Midwest monkeypox outbreak | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| The outbreak included Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kansas, and Missouri. And one case in the eastern state of New Jersey. | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| ICD-10 | B04 |
| ICD-9-CM | 059.01 |
The 2003 Midwest monkeypox outbreak marked the first time monkeypox infection has appeared in the United States, and the first time in the Western Hemisphere. Beginning in May, 2003 a total of 71 cases of human monkeypox were found in five Midwestern states including Wisconsin (39 cases), Indiana (16), Illinois (12), Kansas (1), Missouri (2), and Ohio (1). The cause of the outbreak was traced to Gambian pouched rats imported into the United States by an exotic animal importer in Texas. The rats were shipped from Texas to an Illinois distributor, who housed them with prairie dogs. No deaths were reported. No human-to-human transmission was found. All cases involved direct contact with infected prairie dogs. Electron microscopy and testing by polymerase chain reaction and were used to confirm the causative agent was human monkeypox.
In May, 2003, a three-year-old Wisconsin resident was bitten by a prairie dog purchased from a local pet store. The child was hospitalized after developing fever of unknown origin (103°F), swollen eyes, and a red vesicular skin rash. The child's parents also developed a rash, but no other symptoms. Physicians immediately associated the symptoms with the animal bite and reported the case to the Milwaukee Health Department. Testing of both the child and the prairie dog confirmed the monkeypox virus as the causative agent.
Between May 15, 2003, when the three-year-old index patient was first diagnosed through June 20, the date of the last patient with a laboratory-confirmed case of monkeypox, a total of 71 people ranging in age from 1 to 51 were infected.
On April 9, 2003, a Texas importer received a shipment of 762 African rodents from Accra, Ghana. The shipment included Gambian pouched rats, rope squirrels, tree squirrels, African brush-tailed porcupines, dormice, and striped mice. Of the 762 rodents received, 584 (77%) were shipped to distributors in six states and Japan. The remaining 178 (23%) rodents could not be traced beyond the Texas importer due to lack of documentation.
...
Wikipedia