----- Original Message -----
From: Pamela Alley <RNRQ@...>
To: <VHDInfo@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2003 12:21 AM
Subject: Another ProMed article worth reading


> This was a very interesting email; I strongly recommend that ALL rabbit
> owners (and cavy people, come to that) be very alert to any signs of
> monkeypox in their animals or in themselves. Please note that a rabbit
has
> been infected; that means that we MUST be responsible owners and report
any
> such occurrences in our animals.
>
> Pamela Alley, RVT
> Director, Rabbit Industry Council
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <promed@...>
> To: <promed-ahead@...>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 7:04 PM
> Subject: PRO/AH> International animal movement: veterinary control
>
>
> >
> > INTERNATIONAL ANIMAL MOVEMENT: VETERINARY CONTROL
> > ************************************
> > A ProMED-mail post
> > <http://www.promedmail.org>
> > ProMED-mail, a program of the
> > International Society for Infectious Diseases
> > <http://www.isid.org>
> >
> > [1]
> > Date:10 Jun 2003
> > From: William J. Barnes Agency <wjb@...>
> > Source: Canada.com [edited]
> >
>
<http://www.canada.com/news/story.asp?id=DD513474-93D2-462F-9449-80C49F8ACA9
> 6>
> >
> > The monkeypox outbreak illustrates a growing problem: Exotic animals
give
> > exotic diseases to people who get too close, a trend that some medical
> > specialists call a serious public health threat. Such diseases can
become
> a
> > threat not just to the people who buy and sell exotic pets, but to the
> > general public if the diseases spread to native animals and become
> > established in the United States. Federal health officials are working
> > frantically to ensure that doesn't happen with monkeypox.
> >
> > "This is a harbinger of things to come," warns Michael Osterholm of the
> > University of Minnesota, who advises the government on infectious
diseases
> > -- and has long warned that there's too little oversight of the health
> > threats of imported animals.
> >
> > "There are some of us who feel like lone voices in the night" in calling
> > for better scrutiny, adds Peter Jahrling, a scientist at the U.S. Army
> > Medical Research Institute [of Infectious Diseases] (USAMRIID). "Perhaps
> > incidents like this might bring some much-needed re-examinations."
> >
> > Monkeypox, a relative of smallpox usually found in tropical African
> > forests, apparently jumped from an imported Gambian giant rat into
prairie
> > dogs when both species were being housed by an exotic pet distributor in
> > Illinois.
> >
> > Health officials are investigating nearly 3 dozen possible cases of
> > monkeypox in people who bought or cared for the prairie dogs in
Wisconsin,
> > Indiana, and Illinois. The outbreak marks the first time monkeypox has
> been
> > detected in the Western Hemisphere. Nor is it the only threat, say
critics
> > who fear a growing trend.
> >
> > SARS, the respiratory epidemic, is thought to have come from civet cats
> > bred as an exotic meat in Chinese markets where bats, snakes, badgers,
and
> > other animals live in side-by-side cages until they become someone's
> dinner.
> >
> > Japan recently banned the importation of prairie dogs because they can
> > carry plague. The rodents had been wildly popular as pets in that
country.
> >
> > Just last summer, a group of prairie dogs caught in South Dakota was
> > discovered to have tularemia, a dangerous infection typically spread by
> the
> > bites of infected ticks, deerflies, and such or through ingesting
> > contaminated material. The disease was detected only after the animals
> were
> > shipped to 10 other states and 5 other countries. While the Centers for
> > Disease Control and Prevention never recorded any human illness, adults
> who
> > handled the ill rodents were advised to take precautionary antibiotics.
> >
> > Then there's salmonella, which iguanas and other reptiles, as well as
> > birds, routinely shed in their feces. The CDC counts a stunning 90 000
> > people a year believed to have caught salmonella from some form of
contact
> > with a reptile, either touching it or touching a surface where the
reptile
> > had tracked the bacteria.
> >
> > It is a common scenario, Osterholm says: Parents wash the reptile cage
in
> a
> > bathtub or sink their child uses, and the child gets sick. Salmonella
can
> > be life-threatening in children. Worse is if a disease jumps from exotic
> > pets into native wildlife -- a threat whenever owners dump an animal
that
> > gets too large or tiresome to care for.
> >
> > The CDC's Dr. Steve Ostroff made a plea Monday for prairie-dog owners
not
> > to release their animals into the wild, but to call a veterinarian or
> their
> > state health department for proper care information. Call ahead before
> > taking a sick prairie dog to a veterinary clinic to guard against
possible
> > exposure of other animals to monkeypox, he said. A sick prairie dog has
> > already infected a rabbit who lived in the same house; Jahrling worries
> > that hamsters and gerbils could be incubating monkeypox from pet-store
> > transmission; in Africa, squirrels carry the virus.
> >
> > "Even if we do manage to bring the prairie dog problem under control,
> it's
> > very important that we keep our guard up" by watching for monkeypox in
> > other species, Ostroff said Monday. There are no good counts of how many
> > exotic animals are sold, but they're immensely popular, says Richard
> > Farinato, director of the Humane Society of America's captive wildlife
> > program. Some 800 000 iguanas alone are imported for the pet trade.
> >
> > There is little federal scrutiny of most imported animals for potential
> > human health risk, and rules on owning and selling exotic animals vary
by
> > state and city.
> >
> > "We have a policy that says don't buy these kinds of animals as pets.
This
> > (monkeypox) is one example of why," Farinato says. But even the critics
> > aren't immune to the lure of exotic pets. Osterholm several years ago
let
> > his teenage son buy an African dwarf hedgehog, another pet fad -- with
the
> > condition that it be tested for disease. Osterholm's laboratory found
the
> > animal harboured 3 strains of salmonella never before seen in Minnesota.
> >
> > They kept the hedgehog, but "extreme hand washing took place," Osterholm
> > recalls. "It wasn't that fun."
> >
> > ******
> > [2]
> > Date:10 Jun 2003
> > From: William J. Barnes Agency <wjb@...>
> >
> > I believe the article above implicitly supports the inspection of export
> > animals at departure airports from Europe into the USA.
> >
> > My hope is that the anomaly of allowing the absence of veterinary
> inspections
> > at European departure airports will be addressed at the Second
> International
> > Conference on the Transportation of Horses, which will be held at
Hartpury
> > College, Gloucestershire, England on 12-13 Jul 2003. Currently, this
> serious
> > omission could allow import into the USA of sick horses and/or horses
not
> fit
> > to ship in a humane manner. In addition, the welfare of contact horses
is
> > compromised; after all, the USA importers' most important asset is the
> horse.
> >
> > Currently, a horse can be imported into the USA with a health
certificate
> > written 30 days ago. This is not acceptable. I have asked that this
topic
> > be addressed at the upcoming US Animal Health meeting. It is on the
> > Import/Export committee agenda, and I am requesting support for airport
> > inspection.
> >
> > --
> > William J. Barnes Agency, Inc.
> > 220 Golf Edge
> > Westfield, NJ 07090-1806 USA
> > Phone: 908-232-7650
> > Fax: 908-789-0706
> > <wjb@...>
> >
> > [Perhaps part of the issue is what should or should not be a pet -- and
in
> > what type of environment? Perhaps it also involves the understanding
that
> > diseases can pass from people to animals as well as from animals to
> people;
> > we should not be so quick to blame every outbreak on animals.
> Furthermore,
> > better education regarding personal hygiene and sanitation is called
for,
> > as pointed out in the article. Frequent hand washing and general
> sanitation
> > of the area is important for decreasing the risk of disease
transmission.
> >
> > Regarding horses, the ultimate question is: How long is too long? Is 30
> days
> > reasonable to secure the appropriate and necessary paperwork, testing,
and
> > vaccines and handle any difficulties in the transport of the animal(s)?
> Is
> > it possibly a case of simply needing to inspect and verify the health of
> the
> > animal(s) immediately prior to departure, since all vaccines, testing,
> etc,
> > should already have been completed? There is no easy answer regarding
> > infectious diseases, time lines, and not tightening the regulations to
the
> > point that trade is completely restricted. - Mod.TG]
> >
> > [see also:
> > Monkeypox, human, prairie dogs - USA (WI, IL, IN) 20030608.1412
> > Monkeypox, human, prairie dogs - USA(WI,IL,IN)(02) 20030609.1422
> > Monkeypox, human, prairie dogs - USA(WI,IL,IN)(03) 20030610.1433
> > Monkeypox, human, prairie dogs - USA(WI,IL,IN)(04) 20030611.1436
> > 2000
> > ----
> > Foot & mouth disease - Russia: airport control 20000907.1531
> > Foot & mouth disease, control measures - Japan 20000425.0621
> > Foot & mouth disease, control methods? - South Korea 20000420.0577
> > Heartwater control, interim action - USA 20000327.0442
> > 1997
> > ----
> > Psittacosis (Chlamydiosis) Control, CDC Compendium 1997 19970718.1503
> > .............................tg/pg/jw
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