Abstract: On page 399 we report an outbreak of monkeypox in the midwestern USA, the first such outbeak in the western hemisphere. The likely source of the outbreak is a Gambian giant rat imported from Ghana, which came into contact with prairie dogs at a Chicago-area pet distributor. On page 395 we describe isolation from masked palm civets and a raccoon dog at a market in southern China of a virus almost identical to the coronavirus associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). What both these examples illustrate is how trade in wild animals, whether as pets or for consumption, endangers human health.