Can monkeypox be transmitted through food?

The Directorate General for Health (DGS) and the Directorate General for Food (DGAL) have contacted ANSES (the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety) to assess the risk of transmission of monkeypox virus by food. Indeed, in African countries where the virus is endemic, most contamination occurs through contact with an infected wild animal, and more rarely during the preparation or consumption of contaminated bushmeat. A few studies describe the appearance of cases of monkeypox that seem to have originated from the handling or consumption of contaminated meat, but these are not robust enough to prove the transmission of disease by this means. What is the risk in France?

A hypothesis, but no concrete cases yet

ANSES’s conclusion goes in the same direction, if this mode of transmission is not proven, it cannot be completely excluded. In France, the importation of bushmeat for large-scale distribution is illegal and if people can bring it from abroad for their personal consumption, the risk that they become contaminated by cooking it is low.

Other foodstuffs could be contaminated by a sick handler, especially if he presents skin lesions, or by a contaminated surface. To make this possible, ANSES has established a sequence of events necessary for transmission (see below). If any of these steps fail, then the likelihood of the consumer contracting monkeypox from food exposure is zero.

Hygiene rules to follow

There is little information on the persistence of monkeypox virus on surfaces and foodstuffs, but in the laboratory it remains stable when stored at 4°C. We can therefore assume, by extrapolation, that it would survive in the fridge of an individual. On the other hand, the virus is inactivated by cooking (at least 12 minutes at 70°C). Based on these elements, ANSES concludes that ” the risk of transmission of MPXV (monkeypox virus, editor’s note) by food (other than bushmeat) remains a hypothesis and that such an occurrence has never been reported “.

ANSES reiterates strict compliance with hygiene rules in catering or the agro-food industry, both for personal only for the disinfection of the premises. It also recommends that the companies concerned make their employees aware of the symptoms monkeypox so that they are taken care of and isolated as soon as possible if they contract it.