Monkeypox Human-to-Dog Transmission: 1st Case in Pet Confirmed 12 Days After Owners Exhibit Onset of Symptoms

Experts have recently confirmed the first case of a dog with confirmed monkeypox infection in Paris, France, that may have been gotten through human transmission.

As specified in a Mirror report, a family pet, an Italian greyhound, tested positive for the virus 12 days after its owner exhibited symptoms.

Two men went to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, in Paris, France, in early June after undergoing anal ulceration six days after having sex.

One man had been suffering from anal ulceration and a rash on his face, legs, and ears, while the other developed a rash on his back and legs.

A Public Health Emergency

In both conditions, the men had headaches, fatigue, and a fever four days after the appearance of a rash.

The two had been co-sleeping with their dog, although they said they have been careful to prevent their dog from contact with other humans or even pets from the onset of their symptoms.

Despite their efforts, their dogs tested positive for the said virus after they presented "mucocutaneous lesions," which include abdomen pustules and thin anal ulceration.

The new study published in The Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, specified that last month, monkeypox was declared a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Monkeypox Transmission

The WHO official explained that monkeypox virus transmission typically occurs through close contact with body fluids, lesions, and respiratory droplets of infected animals or humans.

He also said that the plausibility of sensual transmission is being examined, as the present outbreak appears to be concentrated in men who have sex and has been linked to unexpected anal and genital lesions.

It remains unknown if domesticated dogs and cats could be a monkeypox vector; as indicated in this research, the case may have been acquired through human transmission.

After testing the men for monkeypox, the virus was found in the skin and oropharynx specimens for the first man and in anal and oropharynx specimens for the second.

Human-to Dog Transmission

The study revealed that 12 days after the onset of the symptoms, the men's male Italian greyhound, four years old and without previous medical disorders, presented with mucocutaneous lesions, which include abdomen pustules and thin anal ulceration.

The dog tested positive for the monkeypox virus through a PCR protocol adapted from Li and colleagues, involving scraping skin lesions and swabbing the anus and oral cavity.

A similar NZ Herald report said that one of the infected patients and the virus that infected the pet exhibited 100 percent sequence homology on the 19·5 kilobase pairs sequenced.

To the best of their knowledge, the study concludes that the kinetics of symptom onset in both patients and, subsequently, in their dogs suggest human-to-dog transmission of the monkeypox virus.

Given the skin of the dog and mucosal lesions, as well as the positive monkeypox virus PCR results from oral and anal swabs, the study investigators hypothesize an actual canine disease, not a simple carriage of the virus by close contact with humans or airborne transmission or both.

Related information about Monkeypox transmission is shown on UNTV News and Rescue's YouTube video below:

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