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ARCHIVED - Experts divided about quarantining pets exposed to monkeypox in Spain
The majority of pets in Spain are cats and dogs, which seem to be less susceptible to the virus
According to the latest data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), so far there have been 131 confirmed cases of monkeypox and another 106 suspected cases outside of Africa since the first was reported on May 7, and just this week, a British tourist in Spain has been tested for the virus.
Given the rapidity with which monkeypox is spreading, the ECDC has warned that the virus could very possibly become endemic in Europe but the same report revealed an even more surprising detail: it is “theoretically possible,” according to the experts, that infected people could pass monkeypox on to their domestic pets, which could then act as a reservoir and transmit the virus back to humans.
While the ECDC insists that the chance of this is “very low,” animals like rodents and squirrels have already been identified as carriers of the virus in Africa, and it recommends that suspected pets be tested for the virus and quarantined until the symptoms disappear.
Epidemiologist Juan Jose Badiola, however, believes that this alert must be “questioned” since in Spain, the majority of household pets are cats and dogs, which are not as receptive to monkeypox.
Even in the case of more susceptible pets like hamsters, rats, mice, rabbits and guinea pigs, Mr Badiola argues that since these animals rarely go outside, their chance of infection is minimal unless their owner has the virus, in which case they can easily be quarantined at home.
Another expert from the University of Barcelona pointed out that it is already really difficult for monkeypox to pass from person to person, “because direct, almost intimate contact is needed for effective transmission.” It’s even less likely, therefore, that the virus could be passed between a dog or a cat and its owner.
According to the ECDC report, at the moment “little is known about the suitability of European peri-domestic (mammalian) animal species to serve as a host for monkeypox virus” but it recommends that any animals that have been exposed should be isolated at home, in a suitable outdoor space if possible, until a vet can perform a PCR test.
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