An Italian greyhound seems to have caught monkeypox from humans after he slept in bed with his owners, who were both sick with the virus. The four-year-old dog broke out in lesions, "including abdomen pustules," according to medical science journal The Lancet, and tested positive for monkeypox 12 days after his owners came down with it. Although wild animals have been found to carry monkeypox, this is the first reported case of a domesticated animal to become infected.
From CBS News:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its monkeypox guidance to include dogs as animals that can catch the virus. The CDC tweaked its guidance after the first case of a pet dog suspected of contracting the virus from its owners was documented in France.
Scientists said in a paper published in The Lancet medical journal last week that they'd found evidence of human-to-dog transmission of monkeypox. Before that, it was not clear whether the virus could be spread to dogs. …
The researchers called for further investigation into secondary monkeypox transmission via pets.
"Our findings should prompt debate on the need to isolate pets from monkeypox virus-positive individuals," they wrote.
The CDC recommends that people with monkeypox avoid close contact with animals, and that pets that have not been exposed to the virus be cared for by friends or family in another home until the owner or owners fully recover.
