The Trouble With Pocket Pets

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An outbreak of monkeypox in the Midwest, the first ever to hit the western hemisphere, left more than threescore sick. A far less lethal relative of the smallpox virus, monkeypox has hitherto been endemic only in Africa. So it came as little surprise when health authorities traced the outbreak to 28 prairie dogs in Milwaukee, Wis., destined to become household pets, that had come into contact with an infected giant Gambian pouched rat while in transit with a distributor. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson announced an embargo on the importation of all rodents from Africa and a ban on the sale and transfer of pet prairie dogs within the U.S.

Prairie dogs and pouched rats are just two of the critters known as pocket pets that have surged in popularity lately. Pet-industry insiders say the little fur balls appeal to exotic-pet lovers with limited free time or backyard space. Despite the possible public-health hazards these pets represent, business appears as healthy as ever. Michael Jones, a veterinarian at the Jones Animal Hospital in Tacoma, Wash., says he sees growing numbers of pet marsupials from New Zealand known as sugar gliders, as well as chinchillas and naked vole rats. If animal inspectors and public-health officials are concerned, exotic-animal traders are not worrying. "I don't see it being a big deal," says Ellis Brown, owner of Natural Selections Exotics in Miami. "The pet industry is constantly threatened with bans. [The authorities] might put a ban on mammals out of Africa, and that will be it." --By Molly Worthen, Jeanne DeQuine and Jeffrey Ressner