Where did the 2003 outbreak of monkeypox take place?

In 2003, 47 cases of monkeypox were confirmed or suspected in six states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In this outbreak, all people infected with monkeypox became ill after coming into contact with pet prairie dogs.

After being housed near imported small mammals from Ghana, the pets became infected. Human monkeypox was reported for the first time outside of Africa.

Investigators determined that a shipment of animals imported to Texas from Ghana in April 2003 introduced the monkeypox virus into the country.

The shipment included approximately 800 small mammals from nine different species, including six different types of rodents.

Two African giant pouched rats, nine dormice, and three rope squirrels were all found to have the monkeypox virus after laboratory testing by the CDC.

Some of the diseased animals were kept near prairie dogs at the facilities of an Illinois animal dealer after being imported into the country.

Even before they showed symptoms of infection, these prairie dogs were bought and sold as pets.

Following the outbreak, a study found that certain animal-related activities were more likely to cause monkeypox infection. These activities included getting bitten or scratched and touching a sick animal.