Monkeypox virus, local veterinarians and the CDC

I am going to share with you information about the Veterinary Accreditation Program, which is run through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

What?

The USDA-APHIS educate and certify veterinarians to inspect animals for disease prior to writing a health certificate for animal travel.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is a governmental body we should all get down on our knees and give thanks for.

The CDC works hand in hand with USDA-APHIS, and the system trickles down to yours truly, the local town veterinarian. Which means I am authorized to fill out and sign a health certificate for a pet planning to travel to another state or country.

Not a big deal? Think again.

Why so much interest, you might well ask, in where Fido goes on vacation? Is this just another way that Big Brother is invading your privacy? The short answer is no.

The National Veterinary Accreditation Program website shares some fascinating information about how the local town veterinarian can be a link in this chain of protection.

In 2003 a shipment of more than 700 small mammals and rodents was imported to the United States from Africa. The wildlife importer brought in dormice, various unusual rats and some rope squirrels. There is always a market for unusual animals for the pet trade, sometimes zoological parks or animal preservation parks, and even for research.

The animals arrived safely in Texas, where they were redistributed to Illinois. Many of the rats were housed near prairie dogs. The prairie dog has been adopted as a pet by many people. They are native to many areas of the United States.

Unbeknownst to all, the rats were carrying the monkeypox virus and transmitted it to the prairie dogs. The prairie dogs were distributed to pet shops in six Midwestern states. These prairie dogs went into pet homes.

Monkeypox is a virus in the same family as smallpox. Smallpox was a deadly viral disease that the European explorers and settlers first brought to the Americas in the 1600s.

Smallpox was eradicated in the United States before 1980, so a vaccination program against smallpox is no longer enforced.

There is no specific treatment against this virus, though vaccination against smallpox may provide protection against monkeypox for 85 percent of the people who receive it. Again, no one has routinely received smallpox vaccination since 1972. Children born after that time will have no immunity.

Monkeypox had never been seen or diagnosed outside continental Africa until this outbreak in 2003 in the United States.

During a period of four weeks, from May to June, at least 47 people were infected by their new prairie dog pets.

One of the first family cases started May 11, 2003, when two prairie dogs arrived in their new home.

One of the prairie dogs was ill with a skin rash and runny nose on the 15th and taken to a veterinarian. By the 20th the family was ill and the prairie dog died. The veterinarian sent tissue samples to various labs at the same time as skin biopsies were being performed on the family by a dermatologist. Joint diagnosis confirmed monkeypox. Quick action by CDC, USDA and APHIS contained the outbreak. Nobody died and monkeypox has not been seen in the United States since.

As a small town veterinarian, I have been involved with potential cases of rabies, salmonella, campylobacter, avian tuberculosis, chlamydiosis and West Nile disease. All veterinarians are here to serve.

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 8:51 AM with the headline "Monkeypox virus, local veterinarians and the CDC."