Monkeypox can spread to pet dogs, doctors report

Monkeypox can spread to pet dogs, doctors report

FILE - A woman plays with a dog at sunset, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, at a park in Kansas City, Mo. In August 2022, health officials are warning people who are infected with monkeypox to stay away from household pets, since the animals could be at risk of catching the virus. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials are warning people who are infected with monkeypox to stay away from household pets, since the animals could be at risk of catching the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has had the advice in place as monkeypox spreads in the U.S. It gained new attention after a report from France, published last week in the medical journal Lancet, about an Italian greyhound that caught the virus. Infections have been detected in rodents and other wild animals. But the authors called it the first report of monkeypox infection in a domesticated animal like a dog or cat.

Photo:  (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)