Can animals outside Africa be affected by the ongoing monkeypox outbreak, or even become key players?

Abstract

The unprecedented extra-African outbreak of monkeypox raises questions about the risk of transmission of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) to animals from newly infected countries and their ability to serve as spillover hosts, or even constitute autochthonous reservoirs for this zoonotic virus. This question is all the more legitimate given that the role of reservoir of small mammals, rodents and squirrels in particular, is strongly suspected in central and west African countries traditionally infected. In addition, several species from other continents have proven to be receptive or even susceptible and capable of transmitting the infection in turn to other animals and/or humans. Human-to-human transmission of MPXV being a reality, it should be recommended, as a precautionary principle, to avoid all contact and proximity between humans likely to excrete the virus and pets, including new pets, synanthropic rodents and squirrels, in order to anticipate any risk of infection, even theoretical.