#16,950
Earlier this week, in WOAH: How Monkeypox Could Spill Back To Animals From Humans, we looked at growing concerns that the Monkeypox virus (MPXV) could spillover from infected humans to companion animals (dogs, cats, hamsters, etc.) or to wildlife.
Granted, this has always been considered a possibility, given that MPXV is a zoonotic virus that has been found in a variety of non-human hosts in Africa.
But the point was driven home last week after The Lancet published a correspondence from France detailing what appears to be the first human-to-dog transmission of MKPV in a household setting.
The Lancet Published: August 10, 2022Sophie Seang, Sonia Burrel, Eve Todesco, Valentin Leducq, Gentiane Monsel, Diane Le Pluart, and others
Yesterday the CDC updated their Monkeypox Guidance for Pets in the Home, urging that "People with monkeypox should avoid contact with animals, including pets, domestic animals, and wildlife to prevent spreading the virus."
They also recommend:
While we do not know all the symptoms infected animals may have, watch the animal for potential signs of illness including lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, nasal and/or eye secretions or crust, bloating, fever, and/or pimple- or blister-like skin rash. Call your veterinarian if you notice an animal appears sick within 21 days of having contact with a person who has probable or confirmed monkeypox. A veterinarian can help notify your state public health veterinarian [136 KB, 7 pages] or state animal health official.
- Transmission has occurred from persons with monkeypox to their pet dog while isolating at home. Signs of monkeypox in dogs includes development of a new rash, which to-date have been located on the abdomen and anus.
- Do not euthanize pets with suspected monkeypox unless directed by a veterinarian.
- Do not wipe or bathe your pet with chemical disinfectants, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or other products, such as hand sanitizer, counter-cleaning wipes, or other industrial or surface cleaners.
While companion animals are the mostly likely human-animal point of contact, wildlife and farmed animals are not immune.
Last year we saw how quickly COVID-19 was able to jump to - and spread within - the wild deer population in the United States (see USDA/APHIS: White-Tailed Deer Exposed To SARS-CoV-2 Detected In 4 States) and farmed mink in multiple countries (see USDA APHIS Confirms SARS-CoV-2 in Farmed Mink in Utah).
Not only could these hosts provide a new reservoir for the MPXV, it could conceivable provide the virus with new evolutionary pathways, with unpredictable consequences.
Our understanding of the range of animals susceptible to MPXV infection is limited, but we have a new preprint today from researchers at the University of Liverpool, UK that finds a significant potential for the virus to infect a wide range of European animal species.
This is a lengthy, and highly detailed report, that goes beyond just Monkeypox, and discusses other mammalian and avian poxviruses. Well worth following the link and reading in its entirety.
Monkeypox virus shows potential to infect a diverse range of native animal species across Europe, indicating high risk of becoming endemic in the regionMarcus SC Blagrove, Jack Pilgrim, Aurelia Kotsiri, Melody Hui, Matthew Baylis, Maya Wardehdoi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.13.503846This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?].
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Abstract
BackgroundMonkeypox is a zoonotic virus which persists in animal reservoirs and periodically spills over into humans, causing outbreaks. During the current 2022 outbreak, monkeypox virus has persisted via human-human transmission, across all major continents and for longer than any previous record. This unprecedented spread creates the potential for the virus to ‘spillback’ into local susceptible animal populations. Persistent transmission amongst such animals raises the prospect of monkeypox virus becoming enzootic in new regions. However, the full and specific range of potential animal hosts and reservoirs of monkeypox remains unknown, especially in newly at-risk non-endemic areas.
Methods
Here, utilising ensembles of classifiers comprising different class balancing techniques and incorporating instance weights, we identify which animal species are potentially susceptible to monkeypox virus. Subsequently, we generate spatial distribution maps to highlight high-risk geographic areas at high resolution.
Findings
We show that the number of potentially susceptible species is currently underestimated by 2.4 to 4.3-fold, and that a high density of wild susceptible species are native to Europe. We provide lists of these species, and highlight high-risk hosts for spillback and potential long-term reservoirs, which may enable monkeypox virus to become endemic.
Interpretation
We highlight the European red fox and brown rat, as they have established interactions with potentially contaminated urban waste and sewage, which provides a mechanism for potential spillback. We anticipate that our results will enable targeted active surveillance of potential spillback event, to minimise risk of the virus becoming endemic in these regions. Our results also indicate the potential of domesticated cats and dogs (latter now confirmed) being susceptible to monkeypox virus, and hence support many health organisations’ advice for infected humans to avoid physical interaction with pets.
(Excerpt from PDF)
Our study highlights a current underestimation of the animal host range of monkeypox virus of between 2.4- and 4.3-fold. Approximately 80% of the newly predicted hosts were from the Rodentia and Primates orders. Our improved estimation of the potential host range of this virus enables us to better understand, predict and mitigate potential spillback events into animals and thus enable policy makers and surveillance strategies to minimize the risk of monkeypox virus becoming endemic, via animal reservoirs, in new regions.The high density of predicted monkeypox virus hosts in south-east European region of Hungary/Romania, and to a lesser extent Ukraine/Belarus, raises the concern of potential spillback into susceptible wild hosts.Of particular note, the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), a known host of cowpox virus and extremely common throughout European sewerage systems is also a predicted MPXV host. As a high proportion of patients shed MPXV through their faeces13, and MPXV DNA has been detected in wastewater14, there is a clear route to infection of brown rat populations. In addition, the urbanized red fox (Vulpes vulpes) was also a high probability susceptible host, and, with this species’ close association to both humans and rodents, represents a high-risk bridge-species to facilitate interspecies viral sharing. The red fox is an urban scavenger, hence, is likely to come into contact with contaminated household waste fomites – providing a route to infection of the species.Our study highlighted other European rodents, including the herb field mouse (Apodemus uralensis), Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) and the yellow-necked field mouse (Apodemus flavicollis). All three of these species are native to Europe – in particular the high-risk region defined here – and have pockets of very high population density, making them ideal long-term reservoir hosts. Given the current disproportionately high number of human cases across Europe1 , our findings suggest that these species should be surveillance priorities.
