Fatal Monkeypox in Wild-Living Sooty Mangabey, Côte d’Ivoire, 2012

Abstract

We isolated a monkeypox virus from a wild-living monkey, a sooty mangabey, found dead in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, in March 2012. The whole-genome sequence obtained from this isolate and directly from clinical specimens showed its close relationship to monkeypox viruses from Western Africa.A mong the poxviruses are several species of orthopoxviruses (OPVs) that are pathogenic to humans, including monkeypox virus (MPXV) and variola virus (VARV). MPXV was first discovered in laboratory captive monkeys in Copenhagen in 1958 (1). After the eradication of VARV during the 1970s, MPXV became the highest pathogenic OPV infection in humans. On the basis of epidemiologic and sequence data, strains of MPXV can be assigned to a West African or a Congo Basin clade; viruses from the Congo Basin clade show more pronounced illness, death, viremia, and human-to-human transmission than do strains from the West African clade (2,3).Serologic studies showed that monkeys from Africa have OPV antibodies, but no natural case of MPXV has been reported in wild-living primates (4,5). The only MPXV isolate obtained from an animal in the wild was from a Thomas's rope squirrel (Funisciurus anerythrus) caught in Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1985 (6). Here we describe natural MPXV infection in a sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys) found dead in Taï National Park (TNP), Côte d'Ivoire. The StudyDuring a long-term program to monitor deaths in wildlife, an infant mangabey was found dead in the TNP in March 2012. The body did not show any apparent injuries, and the animal had died relatively recently, as indicated by the presence of blowfly eggs but absence of maggots. Multiple skin lesions typical of MPXV infection occurred as dark red crusts 5-7 mm in diameter, partly confluent, which were disseminated over the body. Extremities were mainly affected; fewer lesions were seen on the belly and none on the back.A full necropsy was performed under high-level safety measures, and samples of all organs and blood were collected and preserved in liquid nitrogen and 10% buffered formalin (7). Histologic analysis of the skin showed eosinophilic inclusion bodies, suggesting that an OPV infection had caused the ulcers. Severe bacterial secondary infection of the ulcers also was observed, as well as bacteremia that might have contributed to the pathologic changes and death.DNA was extracted from different tissues, and quantitative PCR for OPV DNA (rpo18) and a cellular target (c-myc) were performed as described (8). We found a high viral DNA load in relation to cellular DNA in all tissues, except muscle, indicating a systemic infection, with particularly high loads in a skin lesion and from a throat swab sample (Table). An immunofluorescence assay performed on MPXV-infected cells showed titers of 320 for IgG and 80 for IgM, indicating an acute OPV infection.Virus from skin tissue was propagated in HEp-2 cells, infected cells were harvested, and DNA was extracted. We performed library preparation and sequencing on an Ion Torrent PGM with an Ion PGM ...

Tropical rainforest flies carrying pathogens form stable associations with social nonhuman primates

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Bayesian reconstruction of the evolutionary history and cross‐species transition of variola virus and orthopoxviruses

“…Monkeypox virus (MPXV) was first isolated from captive non‐human primates in Denmark, and subsequently from a wild squirrel ( Funisciurus anerythrus ) in Zaire in 1985 and a juvenile sooty mangabey ( Cercocebus atys ) in Côte d'Ivoire . Serological evidence of MPXV infection has also been documented in various African rodents, including Cricetomys gambianus , Funisciurus spp ., Heliosciurus spp ., Graphiurus kelleni , Mastomys natalensis , and Steatomys parvus …”

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

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