MILWAUKEE, June 10 (UPI) -- Wisconsin health officials are pleading with owners of prairie dogs and other exotic pets not to release them into the wild.
The exotic pets could spread monkeypox to rabbits and squirrels and possibly give the virus a permanent foothold in the United States.
House mice might be able to catch the illness from infected prairie dogs and spread it to wildlife, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
"Until I know more about what the susceptible animals are ... house mice, field mice ... I'd certainly have concern about any rodents," said Wisconsin's chief medical officer, epidemiologist Jeffrey P. Davis. "We're talking about indoor environments and exterior environments."
Cases of monkeypox have been linked to a shipment of 25 to 30 prairie dogs sold in Wisconsin. An Illinois distributor housed the animals with an imported Gambian giant rat, a species known to be susceptible to monkeypox in Africa.
