The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has amended its advice on monkeypox to include dogs as susceptible species.
After the first instance of a pet dog suspected of catching the virus from its owners was reported in France, the CDC modified its advice.
In a report that was last week published in the medical journal The Lancet, researchers claimed that they had discovered proof of monkeypox transmission from humans to dogs. Prior to it, it was unclear whether the virus could infect dogs.
On June 23, the World Health Organization proclaimed monkeypox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
It spreads in the United States and Europe among persons who have not visited regions where it is known to be prevalent. It is conveyed between humans by intimate contact with lesions or body fluids.
Two male partners who did not have a sexually exclusive relationship were involved in the French case.
A few days after having additional partners, the guys began exhibiting signs of monkeypox.
Their companion dog, a four-year-old Italian greyhound, also acquired lesions and later tested positive for the monkeypox virus twelve days after they first displayed symptoms.
Although they claimed to have taken precautions to keep him from getting into touch with any other humans or animals after their own symptoms of monkeypox started, the guys admitted to sleeping next to their dog.
The virus may be carried by wild animals, such as rats and monkeys, in nations where monkeypox is an endemic disease.
Monkeypox has also been found infected in captive primates in Europe after contact with ill imported animals, but cases of infection in household pets like dogs and cats had not previously been documented.
The researchers said in the paper that was 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 scientists demanded further study into how pets may spread secondary monkeypox.
Our results should spark discussion about whether pets should be kept apart from people who have the monkeypox virus, they said.
In addition to advising against direct contact with animals while suffering from monkeypox, the CDC also advises that dogs that have not been exposed to the virus be looked after by friends or relatives in another location until the owner or owners have completely recovered.