Pet hamsters and guinea pigs in homes where a person has monkey pox will be quarantined to prevent an “overflow event” that could allow the virus to enter the wildlife population.
A UK Health Security Agency risk assessment said that while the risk to humans from the virus remains low, it was possible for pet rodents to pick up the infection from their owners and in turn spread it to rats, squirrels, hedgehogs and house mice.
This could lead to monkeypox spreading rapidly through the wildlife population and the virus becoming endemic in the UK, as well as in West and Central African countries, the risk assessment said.
The new guideline was published as the number of confirmed people with monkeypox in the UK rose to 106, with 16 new cases in England.
The document, prepared by UKHSA on behalf of the umbrella Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) group, also raises concerns that monkeypox could be imported into the UK via rodents and exotic pets, as the animals do not require health certificates at borders.
The review warns: “If contamination is present in small mammals imported as part of the exotic pet trade from the European Union (EU), there are no effective control measures to prevent imports.
“There are no border controls for the movement of such animals and no health certificate is required. Commercial records are not routinely examined for such imports.”
The review concludes that no effective measures have been taken to prevent monkeypox from being imported through exotic pets and small mammals from other countries.
“There are no harmonized health certificates for the commercial importation of rodents into the EU from third countries, and MPX [monkeypox] is not subject to declaration under the Implementing Regulation EU/2018/1882 of the Animal Health Legislation Committee.
“Once imported into the EU, they would not be quarantined on arrival in the UK unless declared as third country origin, as derogations are routinely given for animals of EU origin. Exotic animal fairs are the order of the day in the EU.”
The guideline adds: “As the number of affected households in the UK linked to the current outbreak is increasing rapidly, this justifies a more thorough assessment of the risk posed by mammals exposed to the monkeypox virus to humans with whom they may come into contact . †
There are thought to be two million hamsters, guinea pigs and other rodents as pets in the UK.
In the event that an infected person has a rodent as a pet, the animal will be removed under strict Category 3 public health measures, with officials removing the pet with full PPE and placed in safe quarantine for 21 days. The pet is tested regularly and can only be released if it tests negative after the three week period.
Other pets, such as cats and dogs, do not need to be taken away and quarantined, but should be isolated at home, kept separate from the infected person and checked regularly by a veterinarian to ensure he does not develop any symptoms.
The stricter measures are in effect for rodents as pets because they are more susceptible to monkey pox and clinical signs are less obvious. Wild rodents such as rats and mice are natural sources of infection.
The risk assessment adds that in the case of an “infected household… the risk is therefore to uninfected human contacts or contacting peridomestic or wild rodents”.
“It is unlikely (but cannot be ruled out) that an infected rodent can spread an infection to peridomestic or wild rodents.
“Based on current evidence, for rodents in households where there are infected people, temporary removal from the household for a limited quarantine period (21 days) and testing to rule out infection is recommended, especially where there are infected human contacts who are close contacts had. direct and prolonged contact with the animal or its bedding and/or bedding.”
Animal-to-human transmission can occur when a person comes into close contact with the saliva, blood or other bodily fluids of an infected animal, the risk assessment said.
“Exposures may include being bitten or scratched by an infected animal, preparing infected wild animal carcasses for consumption, or contact with an infected environment that an infected animal frequents (such as contaminated bedding, feeders, water bottles).
People with monkeypox are also warned to ensure their bins are secured, as “smallpox viruses, including MPXV, are very stable in the environment and therefore exposure of wild or pet rodents to contaminated household waste cannot be ruled out”.