The medical journal The Lancet documented
one of the first cases of transmission of monkeypox from humans to domestic animals. A dog that is the pet of a gay couple has tested positive for the disease-causing simian orthopoxvirus in Paris. The critter is a four-year-old male Italian Greyhound (a breed historically prized among monarchs). He also developed, 12 days after the owner’s symptoms began, skin lesions characteristic of the disease such as pustules on the belly and an anal ulceration.
The transmission from the owners to the dog was confirmed by a molecular method of comparison of the genetic material of the viruses found in samples of the three. It was possible to determine which of the two owners transmitted it to the animal. The virus is transmitted by close contact with body fluids and wounds on the skin. The owners reported that the greyhound slept with them. Fearing that transmission was possible, they avoided contact with him with other people and animals before he showed symptoms, as well as isolating themselves.
The couple’s members are a 44-year-old man of Latin American origin who is living with HIV at undetectable levels thanks to antiviral AIDS treatment and a 27-year-old white man who is HIV-negative. They have an open relationship, that is, they allow themselves other sexual partners. They sought out the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in the French capital on June 10 because of anal ulcerations that appeared six days after sexual contact with other people. The eldest also had pustules on his face, ears and legs. The youngest had these injuries on his legs and back. Both also felt weakness, headache and fever.
Another study in the journal NEJM found that 98% of those infected with monkeypox are gay or bisexual men, and suspected that 95% of transmission was through sexual contact. People of other sexual orientations are also exposed, due to the modes of transmission of the virus.
The case is of interest as it points to an interspecies transmissibility that could be important in predicting how the outbreak might evolve. In countries where monkeypox is endemic, that is, a constant and present risk, this orthopoxvirus was found only among wild animals, especially rodents and primates. The case also shows that dogs can be not only intermediate hosts, but also manifest a disease in response to infection.
The website Our World in Data, affiliated with the University of Oxford, currently points to more than 36,000 cases of monkeypox in the world, 2663 in France and 2893 in Brazil. Deaths remain low, with indications that victims had previous immune system problems.
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