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Re: Wisconsin's Exotic "PETS"
The risk of zoonotic diseases (those that can be transmitted from animals to humans) from exotic animals is of special importance because of the fact that they are non-native.
While the diseases may be somewhat harmless in their natural context, their introduction into populations that have not evolved to be resistant poses special dangers.
Example; B virus is harmless in monkeys, yet fatal in humans. The outbreak of monkeypox in prairie dogs (and subsequently in humans) was traced back to giant Gambian rats imported from Africa.
While the disease was balanced in its original environment, its introduction into a new context caused it to spread among unprepared species.
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