Patchy Occurrence of Cowpox Virus in Voles from Germany

Abstract

Cowpox virus (CPXV), genus Orthopoxvirus, family Poxviridae, is a zoonotic pathogen in Eurasian wild rodents. High seroprevalences have been reported previously for vole and murine species in Europe. In contrast, viral DNA was only rarely detected, and very few reservoir-derived CPXV isolates exist. In this study, CPXV DNA and CPXV-reactive antibodies were monitored in wild small mammals for 5 years in four German federal states. Screening of liver tissues of 3966 animals by CPXV real-time PCR (qPCR) revealed five voles of two species positive for CPXV DNA. Two positive bank voles (Myodes glareolus) and two positive common voles (Microtus arvalis) originated from two plots in Baden-Wuerttemberg. One positive bank vole originated from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. None of the small mammals from Thuringia and North Rhine-Westphalia was positive in the qPCR. CPXV antigen-based indirect immunofluorescence assays of 654 highly diluted chest cavity fluid samples detected two bank voles and two common voles from the same sites in Baden-Wuerttemberg to be highly seroreactive. Five animals were CPXV DNA positive, and four other animals were orthopoxvirus seropositive. Our study indicates both a very low prevalence and a patchy occurrence of CPXV in common and bank voles and absence in other rodent and shrew species in Germany. The multiple detection of infected voles at one site in Baden-Wuerttemberg and continued detection in a region of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania classify these regions as potential endemic foci.

Monkeypox Virus in Nigeria: Infection Biology, Epidemiology, and Evolution

“…In Nigeria in particular MPXV epidemiological surveillance in humans and potential host species should be pre-emptive, that is, it should be conducted on a routine basis and not just in response to an outbreak. Fennoscandia [218][219][220][221][222][223] and Germany's [6,[224][225][226] extensive surveillance for CPXVs, a cousin of MPXV, can serve as a model for MPXV surveillance in Nigeria. A recent deployment and implementation of the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) for MPX outbreak in Nigeria by NCDC [147] is a step in the right direction, and we advocate that routine, periodic epidemiological surveillance for MPXV in humans and animals should be integrated into SORMAS.…”

Monkeypox 2022 outbreak in non-endemic countries: Open questions relevant for public health, nonpharmacological intervention and literature review

“…The recent discovery of a new OPXV in Europe ( Gruber et al., 2018 ) indicates our insufficient knowledge about the biodiversity of existing viruses of this genus ( Babkin et al., 2022 ). Investigation aiming to improve our knowledge of their spread in wildlife, particularly in wild rodents ( Kinnunen et al., 2011 ; Fischer et al., 2020 ), could help to assess the risk of MPXV endemization.…”

On the Doorstep, Rodents in Homesteads and Kitchen Gardens

“…The importance of studies of small mammal species composition in homesteads and kitchen gardens is connected with urban development [19], which in some countries includes the expansion of residential gardens [53], as well as with rodent damage and development of control measures [55,72], and problems with pathogen transmission by synantropic, agrophilic and peridomestic rodents [25,27,28,32,73]. For example, M. glareolus, being the second by numbers in the homestead, was found carrying the human pathogenic Puumala virus in East Lithuania [74].…”

“…Rodent control should be based on species ecology and spatiotemporal factors [24]. Finally, with increasing concerns about rodent-based transmission of ectoparasites, diseases, and pathogens, this new topic is becoming of ever greater importance [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32].…”