Monkeypox: Dangers of Squirrels

You now already know that squirrels can't be immediately trusted when it comes to domestication. The fact that they may potentially carry many forms of disease makes them an impending threat to anyone who takes them. It should be made a point to go to a veterinarian and have the squirrel checked first before domesticating it. Better yet, do not domesticate a squirrel at all to avoid any slim chances or possibilities of contracting the disease. That way you don't have to spend anything anymore for the vet checkups, lest the hospitalization fees you would have to come by if ever the diseases from the squirrel are contracted.

The diseases the squirrels carry could range from mild to fatal. Some diseases may not be fatal, however could prove to be very inconvenient to a person who acquires them. And of course, there are those few that can truly be fearsome as they can really deliver a fatal blow. However, the worst disease that squirrels carry still has to be discussed. This disease doesn't only have the capacity to hurt on person but an entire population even. At some point this disease had an epidemic outbreak and has included many human casualties along the way. What's even worse is that disease is still out in the open and scientists still haven't found the ultimate cure for it yet. Therefore, if ever you contract this disease, you can never be certain if ever you will be cured or not. There is a 50-50 chance that you will get saved or suffer the worst consequence of the disease.

This disease is the Monkeypox disease. This disease has always been known to be transmitted coming from animals, particularly small critter animals, like prairie dogs, chipmunks, rats and squirrels. The upside though is that this disease is only often found to originate in the wild and they would most likely come from wild squirrels. However, you can never be too certain that these wild squirrels will never find their way inside your house. Therefore, you are still at risk of contracting the disease. What's even more intimidating is that, unlike rabies wherein the infected squirrel would manifest symptoms of abnormality in behavior, in monkeypox, you can never detect anything. Therefore, an average normal looking squirrel may potentially be a carrier of the deadly disease and you will never be aware of it. It's truly better to prepare yourself and prevent this kind of things from happening at all.

In this article, in order to provide emphasis on the dangers of having wild squirrels around the house, the pathology of the monkey-pox disease will be discussed. This is to make sure that the readers will fully grasp and comprehend the extent of the dangers that squirrels pose to our household and as well as to its members (including yourself). To make you understand that there's more than just property damages to worry about, as these little critters packs more than just that for a punch; that they could really hurt you in times you expect least. Hopefully, this will help prepare your mindset on squirrels and how to handle them appropriately such that you will not risk yourself of its potential dangers.

The Monkeypox Virus

Actually, monkeypox is a disease caused by the sinister monkeypox virus. This virus belongs to the family of orthopoxvirus virus in which the cowpox and smallpox viruses also come from. Monkeypox is classified as zoonotic disease; a kind of disease that originally comes from animals but are highly transmittable to humans. This makes it all the more very dangerous as it can be easily acquired just by coming in contact with an infected animal.

The Symptoms

The monkeypox disease is very much alike of that the smallpox disease, including symptoms' manifestations. However, the former is practically milder than the smallpox disease which can cause severe suffering to the affected individual immediately. Monkeypox takes a slower process of making an individual suffer and it's not as painful as it would be when one has smallpox. The symptoms of a monkeypox disease would only manifest after 12 days from the point of contraction. The symptoms would usually be severe back pains, frequent muscle contractions and pains, headache, fatigue, and swollen limp nodes (indications of the rapid release of antibodies in the body to combat such considerable disease), accompanied with high fever. After the fever develops, rashes in the skin will soon follow after and develop in the affected individual. Later on, the rashes will turn into boils or fluid-filled bumps. The rash would commence initially in the face. It would start small and simple but after three or more days, the rashes would spread out the entire face. The bumps the formerly developed will become crusty. Then it will become a scab and then fall off. The symptoms would usually manifest within three to four weeks. That's quite a long time for an individual's suffering already.

Communication

Obviously, the only way you are going to get affected with the monkeypox virus is when you get bitten by a squirrel or any rodent type animals that happens to be affected. If the person gets bitten, it will be no longer than the twelve days that the person who got bitten will develop the symptoms mentioned above. Another way to communicate the disease is through blood transfusion, the use of needles that were already used by infected individuals, exchange in bodily fluids or touching the rash of an infected animal. Sometimes, the transmission of the disease can be through just merely facing with someone who has been infected. This is because it can be communicated through the simple processes of respiration. Facing someone who has been infected with the virus may pose potential threat to those that interact with him or her. Even the objects that are used by infected individuals are still dangerous if they find their way on innocent hands. Beddings and or clothing are amongst the most expedient ways of communicating the disease to each other.