Or the iguana, the civet cat, the monkey or the chinchilla? Pet ownership in affluent societies now goes far beyond Fido, the canine and Fluffy, the feline. Too far, may be. Exotic animals as household pets is a relatively new practice in normal households. The ever increasing demand for rare animals is fueled by celebrity ownership of such animals and by parents indulging their children’s whim of wanting to be different. But what looks cute in a zoo or on Discovery Channel, may be hazardous to our health if housed in our homes. Zoonotic diseases caused by infectious agents crossing over from animals to humans are caused by close encounters between man and beast. The recent scares over global epidemics of avian flu and SARS are instances of such cross-species infections. The danger of pathogens crossing over from rare animals to humans is that it often takes a long time before the source of the infection can be identified. The HIV virus for example, has been suspected to have entered the human population from monkeys who can carry the simian version of the virus.
Exotic animals captured in the wild are streaming into the U.S. by the millions with little or no screening for disease, leaving Americans vulnerable to a virulent outbreak that could rival a terrorist act.
Demand for such wildlife is booming as parents try to get their kids the latest pets fancied by Hollywood stars and zoos, and research scientists seek to fill their cages.
More than 650 million critters — from kangaroos and kinkajous to iguanas and tropical fish — were imported legally into the United States in the past three years, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service documents obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.
Countless more pets — along with animal parts and meats — are smuggled across the borders as part of a $10 billion-a-year international black market, second only to illegal drugs.
Zoonotic diseases — those that jump to humans — account for three-quarters of all emerging infectious threats, the CDC says. Five of the six diseases the agency regards as top threats to national security are zoonotic, and the CDC recently opened a center to better prepare and monitor such diseases.
The Journal of Internal Medicine estimates that 50 million people worldwide have been infected with zoonotic diseases — those carried by animals that can be spread to humans — since 2000, and as many as 78,000 people have died.
U.S. experts don’t have complete totals for Americans, but partial numbers paint a serious picture:
•Hantavirus, which is carried by rodents and can cause acute respiratory problems or death, has sickened at least 317 Americans and killed at least 93 since 1996.
•More than 770 people have been sickened since 2000 with tularemia, a virulent disease that can be contracted from rabbits, hamsters and other rodents. At least three people have died.
•Three transplant patients in New England died last year after receiving organs from a human donor who had been infected with the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus from a pet hamster. There have been 34 U.S. cases since 1993.
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