Health officials are urging people who have contracted monkeypox to stay away from pets because they too are at risk of the virus.
The Associated Press writes about it.
Last week, the medical journal Lancet published a report on a dog that contracted monkeypox in France.
The owners of the dog said that they sleep next to the animal. Two men contracted monkeypox after having sex with other partners. Later, their dog also developed symptoms and was diagnosed with the virus.
Scientists have already discovered that rodents and other wild animals can become infected with monkeypox. They can spread the virus to people. But the authors claim that this is the first report of the disease in a pet, such as a dog or cat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises keeping pets in close contact with sick people indoors and away from people and other animals for 21 days after the last contact.
- Monkeypox is a rare infection that is spread mostly by wild animals in West and Central Africa. It is possible to become infected by contact with an infected animal, but scientists are not sure what exactly with a monkey — in their opinion, smallpox is transmitted to humans by rodents. A person can catch monkeypox if they are bitten by an infected animal or if they come into contact with animal fluids: blood, feces, saliva, etc. You can also get infected if you eat undercooked meat. At the same time, the disease spreads very rarely between people and is easily tolerated. This type of smallpox is characterized by fever and rashes. There is no special vaccine against monkeypox, but scientists are sure that the vaccine against common smallpox is also effective. In addition, it can be injected after contact with an infected person — this will greatly facilitate the course of the disease.
- Monkey pox has already been detected in some countries neighboring Ukraine, such as Poland, Romania and Moldova. The chief sanitary doctor of Ukraine, Ihor Kuzin, believes that the risks of this disease for Ukraine are quite low. At the same time, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, declared the monkeypox outbreak "a public health emergency."
- The head of the WHO also advised members of the gay community to reduce the number of sexual partners in order to prevent the spread of monkeypox. At the same time, he made a reservation regarding the protection of peopleʼs rights.