A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigationTrusted Source looked at household surfaces in the home of two people infected with monkeypox (MPV).

Using PCR testing, the agency found over 70% of surfaces that were tested were contaminated with the virus.

However, none of the detected virus was able to be cultured.

The Salt Lake County Health Department reported two real-time, PCR–confirmed, travel-associated cases of monkeypox to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (UDHHS).

The two infected individuals lived together with no other housemates and had isolated at home for 20 days before sampling was conducted.

Both experienced symptoms such as fatigue and body aches, eight days after symptom onset.

The UDHHS swabbed objects in the patients’ home that they described as “high contact” surfaces.

The residents also described stringent home cleaning and disinfection activities they performed during their illness, and where they spent substantial amounts of time while they were ill.

Of 30 specimens, 21 (70 percent) tested positive, including those from porous items such as cloth furniture and blankets. None of the specimens contained live virus.

“The inability to detect viable virus suggests that virus viability might have decayed over time or through chemical or environmental inactivation,” wroteTrusted Source Jack A. Pfeiffer, PhD, Epidemic Intelligence Service at the CDC, along with other CDC co-authors.