Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
A case of human-to-dog transmission of monkeypox was established on August 10 in France. If this is a first in the study of this disease, the situation was however considered by the health authorities.
What was only a theoretical risk was confirmed a few days ago, mentioned in the pages of The Lancet : in Paris, a couple of men, infected in June with the monkey pox virus, saw their pet, in this case a greyhound, suffer from the same symptoms 12 days later. This is the first established case of human-to-animal transmission of monkeypox. If the information is “new”, for the World Health Organization, it would not be very surprising.
New information, but not a surprise
Faced with this new situation, the WHO reacted without delay: Dr. Rosamund Lewis, technical manager of the response to monkeypox for the WHO confirms that the report suggests human-to-human transmission of the monkeypox virus. “Given the dog’s skin and mucous membrane lesions as well as the positive monkeypox virus PCR results of the anal and oral swabs, we hypothesize a true canine disease, not just contact carriage of the virus. close to humans or by airborne transmission (or both)” she mentioned. However, the specialist remains pragmatic. “It’s not surprising information, and it’s something we’re monitoring” .
In fact, information has been updated at disease control centers to recognize that dogs can now be infected with the virus. And guidelines to protect pets are also on the agenda: Pets that have been in close contact with someone showing symptoms of monkeypox should be kept home and away from other animals and people for 21 days after the most recent contact.
However, additional studies are underway to find out if this risk applies to various types of pets. It is also unclear whether an infected dog would be able to transmit the virus to humans.
Vaccination also insufficient?
This new transmission from man to dog is not the only new data concerning the mode of operation of this virus. The day before, a short research report was published in Annals of Internal Medicine. He also questioned the vaccination of contact cases, implemented by the health authorities.
Indeed, researchers at the Bichat-Claude Bernard hospital in Paris have found positive PCR results for the monkeypox virus in anal samples taken from asymptomatic subjects. What does that mean ? Quite simply, vaccination limited to people with known exposure to monkeypox virus is not necessarily an effective strategy to prevent infection. The report states “It is not known whether asymptomatic infection will play a role in the transmission of monkeypox virus. But the current global outbreak of monkeypox and the human-to-human mode of transmission may provide evidence that asymptomatic or preclinical spread may occur.”
According to the latest estimates made by Public Health France, the country had 2,673 confirmed cases as of August 11.