Assessing Monkeypox Virus Prevalence in Small Mammals at the Human–Animal Interface in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

During 2012, 2013 and 2015, we collected small mammals within 25 km of the town of Boende in Tshuapa Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The prevalence of monkeypox virus (MPXV) in this area is unknown; however, cases of human infection were previously confirmed near these collection sites. Samples were collected from 353 mammals (rodents, shrews, pangolins, elephant shrews, a potamogale, and a hyrax). Some rodents and shrews were captured from houses where human monkeypox cases have recently been identified, but most were trapped in forests and agricultural areas near villages. Real-time PCR and ELISA were used to assess evidence of MPXV infection and other Orthopoxvirus (OPXV) infections in these small mammals. Seven (2.0%) of these animal samples were found to be anti-orthopoxvirus immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody positive (six rodents: two Funisciurus spp.; one Graphiurus lorraineus; one Cricetomys emini; one Heliosciurus sp.; one Oenomys hypoxanthus, and one elephant shrew Petrodromus tetradactylus); no individuals were found positive in PCR-based assays. These results suggest that a variety of animals can be infected with OPXVs, and that epidemiology studies and educational campaigns should focus on animals that people are regularly contacting, including larger rodents used as protein sources.

Human Monkeypox

“…20 The term is inappropriate because the largest animal reservoirs of the virus have been found in rodents, including squirrels and giant pouched rats, both of which are hunted for food. 21 Rodents are the largest group of mammals with more than 1500 species. The extent of the wild animal reservoir, the natural history, and pathogenesis of monkeypox in both animals and humans remains unknown, requiring characterization through ecologic and epidemiologic studies.…”

Monkeypox — Enhancing public health preparedness for an emerging lethal human zoonotic epidemic threat in the wake of the smallpox post-eradication era

“…In 1985, the virus was isolated from a moribund rope squirrel (Funisciurus anerythrus) in Zaire (DRC) during an outbreak investigation (Khodakevich et al, 1986). Evidence of monkeypox infection has been found in a range of animal species: squirrels (rope and tree), rats, striped mice, dormice and monkeys (Khodakevich et al, 1986;Reynolds et al, 2010;Radoni c et al, 2014;Doty et al, 2017). The specific animal host reservoir of monkeypox, the natural history of animal and human monkeypox infections remains unknown.…”

Importance of epidemiological research of monkeypox: is incidence increasing?

“…The first reported human monkeypox case was in a nine-month-old child from the then Zaire current day Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)) in 1970 [10,11]. The natural reservoir of the monkeypox virus remains unknown, although rodents are believed to be the main source of its introduction into human populations [1,7,12,13]. This zoonotic infection is endemic to Central and West African countries, sporadically causing outbreaks in human populations [10][11][12].…”