Pet greyhound first dog to get monkeypox from owners

THE first dog to be infected with monkeypox caught it by sharing a bed with its owners, scientists have said.

It is the first case of a domesticated canine or cat catching the virus, which is spreading worldwide in humans.

The non-exclusive gay couple living in Paris, aged 44 and 27, developed sore lesions in their anal region and over the rest of their body a week after having sex with other men.

Twelve days after the men were diagnosed at the Pitié-salpêtrière Hospital, their four-year-old male Italian greyhound developed lesions, with stomach pustules and a “thin anal ulceration”.

A PCR test showed the dog had monkeypox and genetic sequencing found it was a 100 per cent match to the strain that infected his owners, indicating the dog caught it from them.

Paris, like other western European capitals such as London and Madrid, has been the epicentre of its country’s outbreak as the virus spreads almost exclusively via the sexual networks of gay men. The lesions are laden with infectious material and prolonged close contact is needed for it to spread from one individual to another.

Sexual contact between people is one medium, but not the only way it can be transmitted. Healthcare workers have caught the virus after handling the bedsheets of an infected person.

Experts urge people to quarantine away from their pet. Defra assesses the risk of human to pet transmission as “low”. Guidance published by the Animal and Plant Health Agency recommends people do not groom or stroke their pet, as well as avoid their bedding, litter and food

“In endemic countries, only wild animals (rodents and primates) have been found to carry monkeypox virus,” the clinicians write in The Lancet.

In Britain, pet rodents (such as hamsters) infected with monkeypox must be isolated in a secure location, such as a government lab, for three weeks.