The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have modified their guidelines on monkeypox to include dogs as susceptible species. After the first instance of a pet dog suspected of catching the virus from its owner was reported in France, the CDC revised its recommendations.
Monkeypox transmission from humans to dogs was reported in a research published in The Lancet last week, according to scientists. Prior to then, it was uncertain if the virus could be transmitted to dogs.
The World Health Organization classified monkeypox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on June 23. It is transmitted by intimate contact with lesions or body fluids, and it is spreading in the United States and Europe among individuals who have not visited to recognized endemic regions.
In France, the case concerns two male cohabitants who were not sexually exclusive. A few days after sleeping with new partners, the guys began to exhibit signs of monkeypox.
Their four-year-old Italian greyhound developed sores and tested positive for the monkeypox virus twelve days after the first symptom appeared in the owners.
Since the onset of their own monkeypox symptoms, the men stated they had taken precautions to prevent their dog from getting into touch with other people or animals while they were sleeping.
In places where monkeypox is prevalent, rodents and primates may be carriers of the virus. Monkeypox has been obtained by captive monkeys in Europe as a result of interaction with infected imported animals, but infection in household pets such as dogs and cats has not previously been recorded.
According to the study published in The Lancet, “to the best of our knowledge, the kinetics of symptom onset in both patients and, later, in their dog imply human-to-dog transmission of monkeypox virus.”
The researchers advocated for more study on secondary monkeypox transmission via pets.
“Our results should spark a discussion on the need of isolating pets from monkeypox-positive people,” they said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that persons with monkeypox avoid direct contact with animals, and that pets who have not been exposed to the virus be cared for in another house by friends or family until the owner or owners recover completely.