WASHINGTON — More than 40,000 people have been infected with monkeypox globally since the outbreak began this spring. At over 14,000, the vast majority of reported cases are in the United States.
VERIFY has been on the front lines of fact-checking what’s true and what’s not when it comes to monkeypox and rumors spreading online.
THE QUESTION:
Can monkeypox spread from people to pets?
THE SOURCES:
- Dr. Amesh Adalja- senior scholar, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Dr. William Schaffner, professor of medicine, Vanderbilt University
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- "Pets in the Home" "Monkeypox in Animals" "Information for Veterinarians" and "Frequently Asked Questions"
THE ANSWER:
Yes, it's possible, but the risk is low
WHAT WE FOUND:
Our VERIFY researchers spoke with two infectious disease experts—Dr. Amesh Adalja, from Johns Hopkins University and Dr. William Schaffner, from Vanderbilt University—and consulted information from the CDC.
The CDC confirms that you can spread monkeypox to a pet through close contact like petting, cuddling and sharing sleeping areas. This is why the agency says people with monkeypox should avoid contact with animals.
"Pets that had close contact with a symptomatic person with monkeypox should be kept at home and away from other animals and people for 21 days after the most recent contact," the agency says. "Infected people should not take care of exposed pets. The person with monkeypox should avoid close contact with the exposed animal, and when possible, ask another household member to care for the animal until the person with monkeypox is fully recovered."
The reverse is also true according to the CDC—people can get sick from their pets.
So far there’s been at least one reported case where a dog became sick from its owners, according to a paper published in a medical journal called The Lancet.
Still, our experts agree the risk is low.
“The average person's dog and cat is absolutely not at risk of acquiring this infection,” Schaffner said.
Adalja said the bigger issue is when a disease becomes endemic in wildlife.
"While people may be really focused on domesticated animals, like... your pet dog or your pet cat, what we're really worried about are wild animals like rats, like squirrels," Dr. Adalja said. "Those are things you cannot control the spread of infections. So that the danger is that the virus spills into one of those species and then you cannot eradicate it.”
The CDC says that it is still learning which mammals are susceptible to the virus, but says that "we should assume any mammal can be infected." For instance, it's unknown whether cats can be infected; however, they can be infected with other orthopoxviruses, the CDC said.
The agency writes that it, "does not currently believe that monkeypox poses a high risk to pets. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely.”
So we can VERIFY, yes, it can spread to pets; but, pets are not at high risk right now.
The CDC has more information on what to do if your pet shows signs of monkeypox or if you think your pet has monkeypox on its website.