Assessing monkeypox virus prevalence in small mammals at the human-animal interface in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Jeffrey B. Doty; Jean M. Malekani; Lem's N. Kalemba; William T. Stanley; Benjamin P. Monroe; Yoshinori J. Nakazawa; Matthew R. Mauldin; Trésor L. Bakambana; Tobit Liyandja Dja Liyandja; Zachary Braden; Ryan Wallace; Divin V. Malekani; Andrea M. McCollum; Nadia Gallardo-Romero; Ashley Kondas; A. Townsend Peterson; Jorge E. Osorio; Tonie E. Rocke; Kevin L. Karem; Ginny L. Emerson; Darin S. Carroll

doi:10.3390/v9100283

Assessing monkeypox virus prevalence in small mammals at the human-animal interface in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Viruses

By: Jeffrey B. Doty, Jean M. Malekani, Lem's N. Kalemba, William T. Stanley, Benjamin P. Monroe, Yoshinori J. Nakazawa, Matthew R. Mauldin, Trésor L. Bakambana, Tobit Liyandja Dja Liyandja , Zachary Braden, Ryan Wallace, Divin V. Malekani, Andrea M. McCollum, Nadia Gallardo-Romero, Ashley Kondas, A. Townsend Peterson, Jorge E. Osorio, Tonie E. Rocke, Kevin L. Karem, Ginny L. Emerson, and Darin S. Carroll

https://doi.org/10.3390/v9100283

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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.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Assessing monkeypox virus prevalence in small mammals at the human-animal interface in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Series title	Viruses
DOI	10.3390/v9100283
Volume	9
Issue	10
Year Published	2017
Language	English
Publisher	MDPI
Contributing office(s)	National Wildlife Health Center
Description	Article 283; 13 p.
First page	1
Last page	13
Country	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Google Analytic Metrics	Metrics page