FDA drops prairie dog restrictions
Rockville, Md. -- Since no new cases of monkeypox have been reported in the United States since an outbreak in 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to lift its restrictions on prairie dogs and certain African rodents.
Rockville, Md.
-- Since no new cases of monkeypox have been reported in the United States since an outbreak in 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to lift its restrictions on prairie dogs and certain African rodents.
The restrictions, which included limits on the sale and transportation of the animals, were issued to stop an outbreak of the rare viral disease monkeypox. Monkeypox was believed to have originated from a shipment of rodents from Ghana, Africa. The diseased animals ended up in Texas, where they were housed with prairie dogs that contracted the disease and passed it on to humans. There were no fatalities.
While the FDA has lifted its restrictions on the prairie dogs and rodents, similar restrictions put in place by the Centers for Disease Control are still in place.
