Greyhound Tests Positive for Monkeypox in France

An Italian greyhound living with his two male owners in France has contracted monkeypox, according to the medical journal The Lancet. Both men signed permission to allow the doctors to write about their conditions.

One of the men is a 44-year-old Latino (and lives with HIV with undetectable viral loads on antiretrovirals); the other is 27 years old and HIV-negative. They live together in an open relationship. Both men received care at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, France, six days after having relations with other male partners.

The older male patient presented with anal ulceration followed by a vesiculopustular rash on his legs, ears, and face. The younger patient had a rash on his legs and back. Four days later, both men had headaches, asthenia, and a fever.

Twelves days after the men’s symptoms presented, their 4-year-old Italian greyhound presented with mucocutaneous lesions, including a thin anal ulceration and abdomen pustules.

The greyhound was tested for monkeypox virus using a PCR protocol adapted by Li Y and colleagues in 2010.

Doctors tested the monkeypox virus DNA sequence gathered from the older male patient and the greyhound. Both samples contained the virus that has been spreading in non-endemic countries since April of this year. As of Aug. 4, 2022, there have been over 1,700 individuals in France who have contracted the virus, with the highest concentration in Paris.

The male patients admitted that they co-slept with their greyhound. However, once their symptoms began to appear, they prevented the greyhound from coming in contact with other humans and pets.

In countries where monkeypox is endemic, it is not uncommon to see wild animals (primates and rodents) contracting the virus. However, the United States has had prairie dogs contracting the disease, and in Europe, captive primates — that had contact with imported infected animals — have caught the virus.

So far, the only domesticated animal to have ever been reported to have contracted monkeypox seems to be the greyhound in France. Prior to this case, experts were unsure if the virus could be spread to domesticated dogs.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has since updated its monkeypox guidance to include pet dogs.

Written by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

CBS News: 1st suspected case of human-to-dog monkeypox transmission leads CDC to update guidance on the virus
The Hill: Dog tests positive for monkeypox in first suspected human-to-pet transmission
The Lancet: Evidence of human-to-dog transmission of monkeypox virus

Images Courtesy of madaise’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License