Veterinarians who have been notified of an arriving animal with suspected monkeypox should admit the animal through a separate entrance to a private room and place it in isolation; the animal should not be admitted to an open waiting room.

When examining or euthanizing sick rodents, lagomorphs, and exotic pets, especially prairie dogs, Gambian giant rats or any ill mammal known to have been in contact with a case of monkeypox, the following precautions should be used:

1. Hand hygiene after all contact with a sick animal and contaminated surfaces.
2. Use of gown and gloves for any contact with the sick animal and contaminated surfaces.
3. Eye protection (e.g. goggles or face shield) if splash or spray of body fluids is likely.
4. Respiratory protection including a NIOSH-certified N95 filtering disposable respirator for entering the exam room. [If N95 respirators are not available for health-care personnel, then surgical masks should be worn.]
5. Contain and dispose of contaminated waste in accordance with facility-specific guidelines for medically regulated infectious waste.
6. Handle used patient-care equipment in a manner that prevents contamination of skin and clothing. Ensure that used equipment has been cleaned and reprocessed appropriately.
7. Ensure that procedures are in place for cleaning and disinfecting contaminated environmental surfaces. Any EPA-registered hospital detergent-disinfectant currently used by health-care facilities for environmental sanitation may be used. Manufacturer's recommendations for dilution (i.e., concentration), contact time, and care in handling should be followed.
8. Laundry (e.g., towels, clothing) may be washed in a standard washing machine with warm water and detergent; bleach may be added but is not necessary. Care should be used when handling soiled laundry to avoid direct contact with contaminated material. Soiled laundry should not be shaken or otherwise handled in a manner that may aerosolize infectious particles.

Veterinarians examining sick prairie dogs or Gambian giant rats, or other mammals that may have come in contact with a suspected monkeypox case, should consider the diagnosis of monkeypox infection. Animals that currently appear healthy but have been implicated as a probable source of infection for a human case should also be treated as a suspected case of monkeypox. All suspected cases of monkeypox in animals should be reported immediately to state or local health department officials.

All animals with suspected monkeypox infection should be humanely euthanized to prevent further spread of the disease. CDC is not currently recommending euthanasia of asymptomatic animals that may have been exposed to other infected animals. Exposed asymptomatic animals should be confined to the home and not allowed to come into contact with other animals. They should be observed for development of symptoms compatible with monkeypox for one month. Should such symptoms develop, the animal should then be evaluated and euthanized, if indicated.

Currently, CDC is not routinely requesting animal samples for testing. However, specimens can be collected and stored for possible future testing. Consultation with the state epidemiologist and state health laboratory is necessary for samples to be sent to CDC for testing. Prior to euthanasia, whole blood in EDTA tubes or serum can be collected and refrigerated at 4°C. CDC is not recommending necropsies of animals except in Biosafety level three laboratories by persons recently vaccinated with vaccinia. Instead, the entire carcass may be preserved by freezing at -70°C, or submersing in 10% formalin and injecting the body cavity with as much formalin as it will hold.

For more information contact your state or local health department or the CDC Emergency Operations Center 770-488-7100, or call the CDC public response hotline at (888) 246-2675 (English), (888) 246-2857 (Español). You can also visit http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/monkeypox.