
UK health agency warns against contact with pets
People with monkeypox symptoms may want to avoid contact with their pets for three weeks to avoid infecting animals, the U.K. Health Security Agency said Friday.
Why it matters: UKHSA says the spread of monkeypox in the U.K. may put pet rodents — such as gerbils, hamsters or rodents — at risk of the virus.
“The worry is the virus could get into domestic animals and essentially ping-pong between them and humans,” Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, told BBC News.
What they’re saying: “The risk posed is therefore to the non-infected human contacts or in-contact peridomestic or wild rodents,” UKHSA said.
- Other mammal pets, like cats and dogs, should be kept in isolation with regular check ups with veterinarians to make sure symptoms don’t develop, the agency added.
Yes, but: U.K. health officials said the risk of passing monkeypox to a pet is low, per The Guardian. In fact, the risk may be limited to certain species, like rodents.
- “No cases of monkeypox have ever been suspected or reported in pets in the UK and the risk remains low,” Christine Middlemiss, the U.K.’s chief veterinary officer, told The Guardian.
Be smart: There aren’t many monkeypox cases globally and transmission risk remains low, Axios’ Eileen Drage O’Reilly reports. There have been nine U.S. cases confirmed so far.
- “People are seeing these cases every day pop up on multiple continents, and this feels very much like the early days of COVID,” Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health, told Axios.
- But, “what made COVID so incredibly challenging is the fact that people could be infected and have no knowledge of it and then go on to spread it to others — there’s much less of a chance it will happen with this virus,” Nuzzo added.
Go deeper:
More Stories
Cambia Health Solutions names Tonya Adams chief health services officer
PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cambia Health Solutions is pleased to announce that Tonya Adams has been appointed as...
Meet Your Optometry Staff At VA Boston Health Care | VA Boston Health Care
Get to know your Optometry Team. Here you will find pictures and bio's for the Optometry Staff. Dr. Doug Rett...
Mon Health Medical Center Family Birth Center Receives Hepatitis B Prevention Program Award | Newsroom
Posted Date: 1/31/2023 Members of the West Virginia Department of Health & Human Resources present Mon Health Medical Center Family...
Temple Health’s prevention program keeps prediabetes from becoming Type 2 diabetes
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia has the highest diabetes rate of America's 10 biggest cities, with a rate that's doubled since...
New Study Links Cluster Headaches to Increased Risk of Additional Health Conditions
Cluster headaches are a type of headache that is characterized by intense, severe pain on one side of the head,...
Yuga Labs Founder Taking Leave of Absence for Health Reasons
Moments ago, Wylie Aronow, one of the co-founders of Yuga Labs, announced that he would be taking a leave of...