Here’s something you don’t see everyday. Pet fish playing a video game in Japan managed to log on to the Nintendo Switch store, change their owner’s avatar, set up a Pay Pal account and rack up a credit card bill.
And it was all seemingly livestreamed, in real time, on the internet.
The fish in question belong to a YouTuber known as Mutekimaru, whose channel is popular with the gaming community for its videos featuring groups of tetra fish that “play” video games.
Mutekimaru had previously installed sophisticated motion detection tracking software in fish tanks, enabling the fishto remotely control a Nintendo Switch console.
But the technology, and the fishes’ apparent mastery of it, led to an unexpected turn of events earlier this month while Mutekimaru was live-streaming a game of Pokémon.
Mutekimaru had stepped away for a break when the game crashed due to a system error and the console returned to the home screen.
But the fish carried on swimming, like fish tend to do, and seemingly continued to control the console remotely from their tank.
During the next seven hours, the fish reportedly managed to change the name of their owner’s Switch account before twice logging into the Nintendo store, where users can purchase games and other downloadable content.
They also managed to “check” legal terms and conditions, downloaded a new avatar and even set up a PayPal account from the Switch – sending an email out to their owner in the process, video from the livestream appeared to show.
But things didn’t end there. The fish were also seen adding 500 yen ($4) to Mutekimaru’s Switch account from his credit card during the livestream – exposing his credit card details in the process, the YouTuber revealed in a follow-up video about the episode.
By this point, thousands of comments were streaming in as viewers watched the unintended takeover being livestreamed on the channel, and the incident went viral on Twitter, where thousands of Japanese users shared their amusement.
Mutekimaru later said that he had contacted Nintendo to explain what happened and asked for a refund of his 500 yen.
Nintendo declined to comment to CNN, citing customer confidentiality.
Ralph Edwards was over the moon last summer when he brought Cali, an adorable 3-month-old Rottweiler puppy, back to his Washington Heights home. She quickly became a beloved member of the family.
But two weeks ago, the playful dog became severely ill one morning without any warning.
She wasn’t eating, was acting lethargic and even “looked very sad,” Edwards, a 42-year-old building superintendent told The Post. He took Cali to the vet, where she was put on antibiotics and underwent several tests.
“They called us back and said she’s really sick and that we needed to take her to a hospital,” Edwards recalled
He took the dog to the hospital, and she soon took a turn for the worse.
Ralph Edwards was heartbroken when he put down his puppy Cali earlier this month. He suspects she died from rat poison.Ralph Edwards
“Her kidneys and liver [had] failed,” he said.
Edwards had to make the heartbreaking decision to put the sick dog down. While vets couldn’t say for certain what caused the puppy to get so ill so quickly — they initially thought it was the deadly bacteria leptospirosis, but she tested negative — he believes it was rat poison she consumed off of city streets.
“The only other thing that could have run through her so rapidly was poison they told me,” Edwards said. “She was a puppy, we didn’t really bring her anywhere or go out of town or anything like that. Just neighborhood walks and that was about it. I just put all the pieces together.”
Cali, a young Rottweiler puppy, suddenly became sick and died in Washington Heights. Her owner suspects rat poison. Ralph Edwards
Cholecalciferol rat poison pellets — which are often spread across the city to control the rodent population — are a common cause of kidney failure in dogs, according to Dr. Ann Marie Zollo, a specialist in Emergency and Critical Care at Schwarzman Animal Medical Center on 62nd St.
“It basically gives you an overdose of vitamin D, which then ultimately can lead to high calcium and kidney failure,” Zollo told The Post.
In recent days, two other dogs have died in the area of Washington Heights where Cali lived and walked. Edwards said rat poison was again the likely culprit. Neighbors have since posted flyers around Cabrini Boulevard warning pet owners.
“It was a very sad thing that happened [to Cali],” he said. “Now it’s about raising awareness and this is a neighborhoods where dog owners are looking out for each other.”
Property management at 140 Cabrini Boulevard is also working to raise awareness. An email — obtained by The Post — was sent to building residents, cautioning them to be on the lookout for “pink pellets” on the ground near the building.
Neighbors in Washington Heights are being warned that rat poison is being laid all over their area and is killing dogs.Ralph Edwards
“Please be vigilant when walking your dog in the area, please also inform your dog walkers of this issue,” the memo read, adding that supers had not been laying said poison.
“This could be someone with no attachment to the properties that are doing this.”
But the issue of dogs being exposed to rat poison is anything but unique to the upper Manhattan nabe, Zollo said.
“This is something that we see with some regularity unfortunately,” Zollo told The Post. “It can really happen in any area of the city. Because, as we all know, there are mice and rats all over New York City.”
A dog in Washington Heights was potentially exposed to rat poison and died soon after, their owner said.Ralph Edwards
She’s not kidding. Recent rodent sightings in the city have increased by 70% as opposed to the same time period two years ago — locals have eyed over 21,500 scurrying creatures, up from 18,601 in 2021.
But Zollo says there is another potential reason for a high frequency of cases nowadays.
“We know that more people got pets during the pandemic. So there may be a little bit of an uptick because of that.”
A dog owner was left heartbroken after his Rottweiler, Cali passed away from suspected rat poison.
Whatever the reason, the poisonings are devastating for dog owners.
“It’s been heartbreaking,” Edwards said. “I never had love like that from a pet in my life.”
The tragic mauling deaths of a baby and toddler has reignited the debate about whether pitbulls should be kept as pets.
Hollace Dean Bennard, five-months-old, and Lilly Jane Bennard, two-years-old, were attacked by their family’s two pitbulls in Shelby County, Tennessee last week.
Their mother, Kirstie Jane Bennard, 30, was seriously wounded and has an “uncountable amount of stitches and bite marks over her entire body, including her face” from trying to stop the vicious attack.
The two pitbulls, Cheech and Mia, were euthanised the next day.
The notion that pitbulls are too dangerous to have as pets has been long debated.
New data published in August revealed 628 children were admitted to Sydney Children’s Hospital with dog-related injuries from 2010 to 2020.
The average patient’s age was just five years old and the pitbull was the most common attacker making up 10.3 per cent of cases, followed by labradors (8.5 per cent) and rottweilers (6.8 per cent).
The average clinical cost per dog bite injury was $2968.
The Bennard family pit bulls dogs, Cheech and Mia, were euthanised. News.com.au
In the first three months of this year, there were 1027 reported dog bites and 69 canines euthanised in NSW alone.
news.com.au readers expressed their horror at the fatal dog attack in Tennessee, with some stating it’s impossible to ignore the statistics when it comes to deciding whether the breed is inherently dangerous or not.
Others said that no matter the breed, children and dogs do not mix.
“Anyone who chooses to have them, especially around children, are fools in my opinion. This is such a sad story, and the worst way imaginable to learn that pitbulls are not a good idea,” wrote one reader on Facebook, gaining hundreds of likes in support.
Another person described the breed as “killers”.
“No dog is completely trustworthy around children no matter what the breed. As much as I love my two sweet French Bulldogs, I still don’t trust them or leave them alone around my grandchildren, you just never know,” wrote someone else.
Kirstie Jane Bennard was seriously injured trying to stop the attack. News.com.au
“No dog is trustworthy simple as that! I have dogs and will never fully trust them, natural instincts can kick in at anything for whatever reason,” said another.
Some readers were quick to defend the breed.
“Always blaming the breed but never the owner. What about all of the heroic ones that have saved their owners and human siblings? What about all the ones that have been raised with love and not violence?” wrote one person.
“Please don’t start breed of dog hating! Something is seriously wrong here!” said another.
The Tennesse family’s pitbulls were reportedly never aggressive before the attack.
“I can promise you those children were her world, and if there was any inkling of danger, she would have never had those dogs near her kids,” the devastated mother’s friend Kelsey Canfield told Fox News.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are against banning of particular dog breeds as “all dogs, including pitbulls, are individuals” and should be treated as such.
Its position is that responsible ownership is the most appropriate action for stamping out dangerous dogs across various breeds.
ASPCA does say despite best efforts there will always be dangerous dogs that need to be properly cared for and controlled to reduce risk.
Former US president Barack Obama made a statement in 2013 opposing legislation that would restrict ownership of dogs by breed, with pitbulls the most common target.
“We don’t support breed-specific legislation – research shows that bans on certain types of dogs are largely ineffective and often a waste of public resources,” he said.
Back in Australia, the RSCPA does not support breed-specific legislation as it too “considers that any dog of any size, breed or mix of breeds may be dangerous and thus dogs should not be declared dangerous on the basis of breed or appearance.”
This stance is supported by the Australian Veterinary Association.
Restricted dog breeds in Australia include the American pitbull terrier or pitbull terrier, dogo Argentino, fila Brasileiro, Japanese tosa and Perro de Presa Canario or Presa Canario.
In Victoria, owners can face up to 10 years jail if their restricted dog kills someone or up to five years if their dog endangers someone’s life.
Veterinarians have identified the disease that killed more than 20 dogs in a single Michigan shelter as parvovirus.
From the beginning, veterinarians identified that the symptoms of the previously mysterious illness matched that of parvovirus, but dogs tested negative for the virus. The Otsego County Animal Shelter initially reported it was seeing its dogs die of the disease.
“Screening tests for parvo are done to help guide immediate isolation, disinfection, and treatment protocols. While those tests are valuable in the clinical setting, they are not as sensitive as the diagnostic tests we can perform here in the laboratory,” Michigan State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Director Kim Dodd said in a press release. “We continue to further characterize the virus in hopes of better understanding why those animals were testing negative on screening tests.”
SEE IT: KRISPY KREME ADDS DOGGY DOUGHNUTS TO ITS MENU FOR NATIONAL DOG DAY
Hunter Venable pets his Pit Bull, Shar Pei mix Abigail while at work at Authentic Entertainment in Burbank, Calif., Monday, June 11, 2012. Abigail is one of millions of dogs that accompany their owners to dog-friendly businesses across the country every day. Even more will join her next Friday for Take Your Dog to Work Day.
(AP Photo/Grant Hindsley)
“Canine parvovirus is a severe and highly contagious disease in dogs, but MDARD and veterinary professionals have extensive experience with this virus,” State Veterinarian Nora Wineland said. “We have a highly effective vaccine available to help protect dogs from the virus. Dogs that are not fully vaccinated against this virus are the most at risk.”
The affected dogs were not fully vaccinated against the virus, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. It is not contagious to humans or other species of domestic animals.
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Symptoms of canine parvovirus include loss of appetite, bloating, fever, hypothermia, vomiting, and severe diarrhea, among others, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Laboratory tests from sick or dead dogs in Northern Michigan have come back positive for canine parvovirus, a highly contagious virus that can affect all dogs.
Unvaccinated dogs and puppies younger than four months old are most at risk. The virus affects a dog’s gastrointestinal tract and is spread by direct dog-to-dog contact and contact with feces, environments or people, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
“This situation is complex because although the dogs displayed clinical signs suggestive of parvovirus, they consistently test negative by point-of-care tests performed in clinics and shelters. Screening tests for parvo are done to help guide immediate isolation, disinfection, and treatment protocols. While those tests are valuable in the clinical setting, they are not as sensitive as the diagnostic tests we can perform here in the laboratory. We continue to further characterize the virus in hopes of better understanding why those animals were testing negative on screening tests,” MSU VDL director Dr. Kim Dodd said.
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According to Otsego County Animal Control, the 30+ dogs that died came from different areas and different owners. A puppy mill was not involved and the dogs were not one type of dog breed.
Animal control officials urge people to make sure their dogs are properly vaccinated. They also said when traveling to consider not allowing their dogs to go potty in areas where numerous other dogs have gone. It’s also very important to clean up after your dogs.
They also made the following statements on Facebook, hoping to clear up any confusion:
The illness does not affect certain breeds more than others
They have heard of many counties around northern and central Michigan with reports of illnesses
They have not seen any properly vaccinated dogs die
Those affected have been puppies under two and elderly dogs
Read: Here’s how Parvo-like illness is affecting young dogs in Michigan
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How you can protect your dog from parvovirus
The most important way to protect your dog is to keep up with routine vaccinations, especially if you plan on traveling.
Ensure your dog is vaccinated against canine parvovirus, rabies, canine distemper, adenovirus, parainfluenza, and leptospirosis.
If you have a puppy, make sure it has been fully vaccinated before you allow it to interact with other animals. You should keep all dogs and puppies away from other dogs if they have any signs of illness.
Make sure you clean up after your pet when you’re walking them in public to prevent the spread of illnesses. The virus can spread from place to place on the hair or feet of dogs, or through contaminated cages, shoes or other objects.
Parvovirus is resistant to heat, cold, humidity, and drying. It is known to survive in the environment for long periods of time, which is why it’s so important to get your dog vaccinated.
Parvovirus is not contagious to people or other animals.
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Symptoms of parvovirus in puppies
Most deaths from parvovirus occur within 48 to 72 hours following symptom onset, according to the AVMA. There aren’t any specific drugs that can kill the virus in infected dogs and treatment is to support the dog as it fights the infection.
The American Kennel Club said the following are symptoms of parvovirus in puppies.
Bloody diarrhea
Vomiting
Fever
Lethargy
Anorexia
Weight loss
Weakness
Dehydration
Depression
If your puppy has any of these symptoms you should contact your veterinarian.
How to clean after parvovirus
It is very difficult to completely eliminate the virus in your home after an infection has been present.
According to McEwen Animal Clinic, freezing is completely protective to the virus so if your yard is frozen you have to wait for it to thaw before you introduce a new puppy. Shaded areas should be considered contaminated for seven months and sunny areas should be considered contaminated for five months.
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According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, bleach works for inactivating the virus. Bleach can be used on surfaces such as stainless steel or sealed floors but another option should be used for porous surfaces.
Read: All 4 Pets coverage
Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
Raleigh, N.C. — There is a mysterious and severe case of pneumonia affecting dogs, and some veterinarians are already seeing it in Raleigh.
It’s impacting how vets are accepting new dogs for boarding.
Doctors are still trying to figure out what it is. At Care First Animal Hospital at Oberlin, they see 15-20 dogs per day with the infection.
With the Labor Day holiday weekend approaching, some boarding facilities are being careful.
Upper-respiratory diseases are common in shelters because dogs that come in aren’t usually vaccinated.
“Late spring [and] early summer, we did have a few severe cases, but that has calmed down,” said Wake County Animal Center animal services director Dr. Jennifer Federico. “So now, we’re not seeing that as much in our world.”
Federico said private practices are now the ones seeing this kind of infection more.
“This one seems pretty scary because of how sick the dogs are coming in,” said Care First Animal Hospital’s Dr. Page Wages.
Since May, Care First Animal Hospital has seen 450 dogs with pneumonia. In the last two or three weeks, they’ve seen about 20-50 dogs with a more severe case.
“The scary thing is the dogs with this pneumonia,” Wages said. “Some dogs are dying from it …
“It’s young dogs. It’s dogs [that are] a year or 2 years [old]. We have one right now that’s at a hospital that probably won’t survive. It’s really sad.”
An X-ray of a dog with pneumonia shows the animal’s lungs fully infected.
Dogs who are more active with other dogs are at a higher risk.
Symptoms include:
A runny nose
Cough
Diarrhea
Eye discharge
Wages said they’re being extra careful boarding dogs because the infection can spread easily.
“[If they are] coughing [and] sneezing, they cannot come in the kennel,” Wages said. “Just people that want to board their dogs that are sick, just please don’t board them here or any other place it’s just going share it to other dogs.”
Doctors encourage pet owners to keep their dogs away from other dogs for a couple of weeks until the infection dies down. Also, doctors recommend dogs stay up to date with their vaccines.
State and federal agencies are investigating an illness that has sickened and killed dozens of dogs in Otsego County after they showed signs of a “parvo-like” illness.
Some of the tests from sick or dead dogs have come back positive for canine parvovirus, a highly contagious virus that can affect all dogs. Michigan State University is encouraging veterinarians to pursue additional tests in cases where screening tests for parvovirus are negative.
“Please call the Laboratory with any questions about sample collection, submission, or diagnostic options and contact MDARD if unusual or reportable illnesses are seen,” Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory said in a release.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is working to learn more about reports of the illness and is conducting more tests.
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“We are still in the early stages of this investigation, but some of the first samples submitted to the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory were positive for canine parvovirus. However, there are more results pending and more to be learned,” State Veterinarian Nora Wineland, DVM. “When MDARD first learned of these cases in northern Michigan, we immediately reached out to the veterinarians and animal shelters involved and began our response efforts. Protecting animal and public health is one of the department’s key pillars, but it is a team effort. Dog owners need to ensure their pet is up to date on routine vaccinations as it’s the first step in keeping your pet healthy.”
The Otsego County Animal Shelter said in a Facebook post that some of the dogs sick with “parvo-like” symptoms are testing negative for parvovirus and die within a few days. According to an earlier Facebook post, the shelter said the best guess was that a strain of parvovirus was causing the illnesses and deaths.
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They also made the following statements, hoping to clear up any confusion:
The illness does not affect certain breeds more than others
They have heard of many counties around northern and central Michigan with reports of illnesses
They have not seen any properly vaccinated dogs die
Those affected have been puppies under two and elderly dogs
The Otsego County Animal Shelter is holding a vaccination clinic 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. on every Wednesday from Aug. 24 until Sept. 21 at the Otsego County Fire Hall, S. Wisconsin, Gaylord. Click here to learn more.
Read: Here’s how Parvo-like illness is affecting young dogs in Michigan
How you can protect your dog from parvovirus
The most important way to protect your dog is to keep up with routine vaccinations, especially if you plan on traveling.
Ensure your dog is vaccinated against canine parvovirus, rabies, canine distemper, adenovirus, parainfluenza, and leptospirosis.
Ad
Unvaccinated dogs and puppies younger than four months old are most at risk for severe illness from parvovirus. The virus affects a dog’s gastrointestinal tract and is spread by direct dog-to-dog contact and contact with feces, environments or people, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
If you have a puppy, make sure it has been fully vaccinated before you allow it to interact with other animals. You should keep all dogs and puppies away from other dogs if they have any signs of illness.
Make sure you clean up after your pet when you’re walking them in public to prevent the spread of illnesses. The virus can spread from place to place on the hair or feet of dogs, or through contaminated cages, shoes or other objects.
Parvovirus is resistant to heat, cold, humidity, and drying. It is known to survive in the environment for long periods of time, which is why it’s so important to get your dog vaccinated.
Ad
Parvovirus is not contagious to people or other animals.
Symptoms of parvovirus in puppies
Most deaths from parvovirus occur within 48 to 72 hours following symptom onset, according to the AVMA. There aren’t any specific drugs that can kill the virus in infected dogs and treatment is to support the dog as it fights the infection.
The American Kennel Club said the following are symptoms of parvovirus in puppies.
Bloody diarrhea
Vomiting
Fever
Lethargy
Anorexia
Weight loss
Weakness
Dehydration
Depression
If your puppy has any of these symptoms you should contact your veterinarian.
How to clean after parvovirus
It is very difficult to completely eliminate the virus in your home after an infection has been present.
According to McEwen Animal Clinic, freezing is completely protective to the virus so if your yard is frozen you have to wait for it to thaw before you introduce a new puppy. Shaded areas should be considered contaminated for seven months and sunny areas should be considered contaminated for five months.
Ad
According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, bleach works for inactivating the virus. Bleach can be used on surfaces such as stainless steel or sealed floors but another option should be used for porous surfaces.
Read: All 4 Pets coverage
Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is offering free COVID-19 testing for pets who may have been exposed to the virus.
Los Angeles health officials announced the initiative on Aug. 20, stating that it has recently received funding to conduct the free COVIS-19 testing on pets.
“Your pet may be eligible for free SARS-CoV-2 testing if they were exposed to a human or animal with COVID-19 or has symptoms of COVID-19,” the health department tweeted.
Funding comes from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to its website, which states that it will “support surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in animals in Los Angeles County.”
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The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is offering free COVID-19 testing for pets who may have been exposed to the virus. (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health)
The department says that it plans to offer free testing to animal care facilities and centers throughout Los Angeles County, and states that animals including “deer, bats, raccoons…dogs, cats, hamsters, pocket pets…seals,” will be tested.
Pet owners can request a free COVID-19 test for their pet if it is experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus or has been exposed to another animal, or human, who has the coronavirus.
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Out of the 177 animals tested so far, including dogs, cats, bats, raccoons, skunks, rats, and sea lions, none have tested positive for COVID-19.
Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com and on Twitter @asabes10.
Mexican narcos’ fascination with exotic animals has been on display this week after a spider monkey dressed up as a drug gang mascot was killed in a shootout, a 200kg tiger wandered the streets in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, and a man died after trying to pet a captive tiger in a cartel-dominated area of western Michoacán state.
Eleven suspected gang members died in the shootout on Tuesday in the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital. Photos from the scene showed a small monkey dressed in a tiny camouflage jacket and a tiny “bulletproof” vest sprawled across the body of a dead gunman.
Authorities in the State of Mexico confirmed the authenticity of the photos.
“A primate was killed at the scene, which was presumably owned by a criminal who was also killed at the scene,” state prosecutors said in a statement, adding: “An autopsy will be carried out on the animal by a veterinarian specialized in the species.” They said animal-trafficking charges would be considered against the suspects who survived the shootout.
Then on Wednesday, the attorney general for environmental protection said it had seized a tiger in Tecuala, in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, near the border with Sinaloa, which is home to the cartel of the same name.
The office said it acted “after receiving reports about a Bengal tiger that was wandering the streets of Tecuala”, and found that the animal was being illegally kept there.
Those reports were based on a video posted on social media earlier this week, showing a young woman shrieking as she came across the tiger on the street in a residential neighborhood. “Be quiet, it might come close,” a woman can be heard saying on the video.
Authorities said the tiger’s claws and fangs had been removed, and a man can be seen later in the video casually tossing a rope over the tiger’s neck and leading him away.
Perhaps the most tragic story came out of the western state of Michoacán, which has long been dominated by the Carteles Unidos gang and the Jalisco cartel.
On Sunday, authorities confirmed that a man was seriously wounded by a tiger in Peribán, Michoacán, a town in the state’s avocado-growing region, where gangs have long extorted protection payments from the lucrative avocado trade.
In a video posted on social media, whose authenticity could not be confirmed, the man is seen calling the tiger to the side of a fenced enclosure. “Come on, come,” the man can be heard entreating.
The man stands outside the enclosure, apparently feeding the tiger with one hand, while he stretches his other arm through the chain-link fence to stroke the animal’s neck.
The man then shrieks in pain after the tiger quickly wheels and bites the extended arm and refuses to let go.
Michoacán state law enforcement authorities confirmed that the man was taken to a hospital, where he died a few days later from his injuries.
Security analyst David Saucedo said drug traffickers often keep exotic animals as a symbol of status and power, imitating the Colombian drug lords of the 1980s and 90s.
“Mexican drug traffickers copied from the Medellín cartel the custom of acquiring exotic animals and setting up private zoos,” said Saucedo. “According to the code of the drug trafficking aristocracy, having a private zoo was a prerequisite for being part of the circle of big-time drug traffickers.”
In some cases, the animals had a more sinister use.
“Some drug cartel capos, like Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano, acquired exotic animals to torture or disappear their victims,” Saucedo said. “Several of his enemies were devoured by the tigers or the crocodiles that the Zetas kept in their pens or cages.”
Lazcano himself was killed in a shootout with Mexican military personnel in 2012.
Monkeypox Virus monkeypox-airborne.jpg – Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
There was an undetected monkeypox outbreak already underway in the United States before health officials in Europe and the U.S. sounded the alarm about the dangerous viral disease back in May. That’s a problem. For every day that a virus spreads unmonitored and unchecked, there’s greater risk of it finding a permanent home in a country it was only visiting. In the case of the pox — in our pets.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that there are two strains of the virus circulating in the country, which indicates it’s probably been here much longer than originally thought. It’s not clear when that other outbreak began, but it could have potentially been months ago.
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Monkeypox, which causes a rash and fever and is fatal in a very small percentage of cases, isn’t nearly as transmissible as Covid-19. But unlike the novel coronavirus, it spreads easily to and from certain animal populations — rodents in particular.
If the pox currently circulating in the U.S. spreads to rats, hamsters, or gerbils, and becomes endemic in those species, there might be no easy way to contain it. “I do share the other scientists’ concern of containment and the virus becoming endemic in our U.S. rodent population,” sys Stephanie James, the head of a viral testing lab at Regis University in Colorado.
There is some good news. For starters, no one has died yet as a result of either recent pox outbreak. And authorities are better equipped than ever to contain the outbreaks, thanks to large stockpiles of smallpox vaccine (which works against monkeypox, too) and their years of experience with contact-tracing thanks to Covid-19.
More good news: despite some mixed messages from some health experts, the pox is not airborne in its current form. The CDC didn’t respond to a request for comment, but the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control —Europe’s version of the CDC — stressed “there is no evidence of long-range airborne transmission.”
The confusion stems from the scientific definition of “airborne.” Covid matches the definition. Monkeypox does not. The pox can ride a very short distance on spittle, but it doesn’t waft and linger in fine “aerosol” mists from breathing and talking the way airborne Covid does.
The novel coronavirus can travel across a room on aerosols or even hover in the air for hours at a time. The monkeypox in our spit, by contrast, quickly falls to the floor just a couple feet from our mouths. “Respiratory droplets may be able to spread the virus, but it is not what is fueling transmission,” says Amesh Adalja, a public-health expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Instead, the pox spreads through very close contact.
The bad news is we’re playing catch-up. And as that initially undetected earlier outbreak indicates, we’re not even sure how far behind we are. It’s not enough to contain and treat the pox in people. We also need to prevent it spreading to rats and hamsters and other animals.
Monkeypox, which first made the leap from monkeys or rodents to people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, regularly flares up in Africa. But it rarely infects more than a couple thousand people a year — and killed just 33 people during its most prolonged outbreak in the DRC between 1981 and 1986.
When monkeypox spreads in places it’s not already endemic outside Africa, health officials perk up. In 2003, 47 people in the U.S. got sick with the pox after exposure to a shipment of pet rodents from Ghana to Texas. A rapid response by state and federal health officials — and a few doses of smallpox vaccine — prevented anyone dying and temporarily eliminated the virus in the U.S.
The larger of the current outbreaks began in early May, apparently triggered by a U.K. traveler’s exposure to an infected person or animal in Nigeria. Hitching a ride to Europe, the virus spread quickly through close physical contact. David Heymann, who formerly headed the World Health Organization’s emergencies department, said that men attending raves in Spain and Belgium “amplified” the outbreak — apparently through kissing and rubbing skin.
After that, the virus accompanied travelers on planes heading for countries far and wide. By June 2, the WHO had tallied 780 pox cases in 27 countries. The case count since has swelled to around 1,400. Health officials diagnosed the first U.S case on May 27.
As of Friday, 49 Americans in 16 states plus Washington, D.C. had the pox. The CDC suspects some of those cases are the result of an earlier outbreak that officials didn’t even notice until the later outbreak caused them to go back and take a closer look at some patients’ symptoms.
Pox rashes look a lot like symptoms of other diseases, including sexually-transmitted infections, or STIs. That earlier pox outbreak apparently slipped past medical professionals because they didn’t necessarily know what they were looking at. “These monkeypox cases outside of the endemic area have likely been smoldering along for some time, misdiagnosed as traditional STIs,” says Adalja, the public health expert.
That delay in confirming pox cases is worrying experts. Every day that passes in the current outbreaks increases the chance of transmission to pets and pests. If the pox becomes endemic in animal populations, we might never get rid of it. And countries such as the U.S. that once experienced just a few small pox outbreaks every 20 years or so could suffer bigger and more frequent outbreaks, just like countries in Africa already do.
That’s the worst-case scenario, but authorities can’t contain an outbreak they don’t even know is happening. It’s a troubling sign that, in the third year of a devastating pandemic, doctors, health officials and epidemiologists overlooked that earlier pox outbreak, giving the virus a head start in the race toward endemicity in animals. “I think we are dramatically under-testing, under-ascertaining cases and underestimating risk,” says James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. “We apparently didn’t learn very much from Covid.”
