A dog in France infected with monkeypox – scientists worry

Monkeypox originally spread from animals to humans, and now scientists worry that the virus will pass from humans to animals and become more difficult to eradicate.

According to scientists, the possibility of monkeypox spreading from humans to animals is small, but in August scientists reported the first suspected transmission from a human to a pet, a dog, in France. CNBC.

A dog in France tested positive for monkeypox after a couple in Paris contracted the disease. The couple had shared a bed with the dog. The news of the infected French dog prompted health authorities around the world to intensify their warnings to prevent the virus from spreading to more pets or other animals.

The virus can give permanent attachment

Health authorities’ recommendations stem from concerns that the virus will infect wildlife as human outbreaks increase, allowing the virus to pass back and forth between animals and humans. The virus can give a permanent foothold in countries where it has not previously spread.

Before this year’s global outbreak, monkeypox spread mainly in parts of West and Central Africa where people could become infected after exposure to infected wild animals.

So far, 41,000 people have been infected

In 2003, 47 people in six Midwestern states contracted monkeypox from pet prairie dogs, and the dogs became infected when they were kept with ferrets imported from the African nation of Ghana. This outbreak was stopped and this was the first documented case of monkeypox in humans outside Africa.

An ongoing outbreak of monkeypox has so far infected more than 41,000 people worldwide and is spread primarily through close contact between gay and bisexual men. Until August 4, according to Public Health Authority111 cases have been reported in Sweden.

The current outbreak is very different from previous patterns of infection in that the virus now spreads almost entirely through close physical contact between people.

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Read more: The lack of a monkeypox vaccine – the United States faces a new method of vaccination [Dagens PS]