Poxvirus and Rabies Branch, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2011;6(12):e28295. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0028295. Epub 2011 Dec 2.
Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is considered the most significant human public health threat in the genus Orthopoxvirus since the eradication of variola virus (the causative agent of smallpox). MPXV is a zoonotic agent endemic to forested areas of Central and Western Africa. In 2003, MPXV caused an outbreak in the United States due to the importation of infected African rodents, and subsequent sequential infection of North American prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) and humans. In previous studies, the prairie dog MPXV model has successfully shown to be very useful for understanding MPXV since the model emulates key characteristics of human monkeypox disease. In humans, percutaneous exposure to animals has been documented but the primary method of human-to-human MPXV transmission is postulated to be by respiratory route. Only a few animal model studies of MPXV transmission have been reported. Herein, we show that MPXV infected prairie dogs are able to transmit the virus to naive animals through multiple transmission routes. All secondarily exposed animals were infected with MPXV during the course of the study. Notably, animals secondarily exposed appeared to manifest more severe disease; however, the disease course was very similar to those of experimentally challenged animals including inappetence leading to weight loss, development of lesions, production of orthopoxvirus antibodies and shedding of similar levels or in some instances higher levels of MPXV from the oral cavity. Disease was transmitted via exposure to contaminated bedding, co-housing, or respiratory secretions/nasal mucous (we could not definitively say that transmission occurred via respiratory route exclusively). Future use of the model will allow us to evaluate infection control measures, vaccines and antiviral strategies to decrease disease transmission.
猴痘病毒（MPXV）被认为是自天花病毒（引起天花的病原体）根除以来正痘病毒属中对人类公共健康构成最大威胁的病毒。MPXV 是一种流行于中非和西非森林地区的人畜共患病原体。2003 年，由于感染的非洲啮齿动物的输入，MPXV 在美国引发了一次暴发，随后北美草原犬鼠（Cynomys ludovicianus）和人类相继感染。在之前的研究中，草原犬鼠 MPXV 模型已成功证明对理解 MPXV 非常有用，因为该模型模拟了人类猴痘疾病的关键特征。在人类中，已记录到通过动物的经皮暴露，但人类间 MPXV 传播的主要方式被推测为通过呼吸道途径。仅有少数关于 MPXV 传播的动物模型研究报告。在此，我们表明，感染 MPXV 的草原犬鼠能够通过多种传播途径将病毒传播给未感染的动物。在研究过程中，所有二次暴露的动物均感染了 MPXV。值得注意的是，二次暴露的动物似乎表现出更严重的疾病；然而，疾病过程与实验性挑战动物非常相似，包括食欲不振导致体重减轻、病变发展、产生正痘病毒抗体以及从口腔排出类似或在某些情况下更高水平的 MPXV。疾病通过接触受污染的床上用品、共同饲养或呼吸道分泌物/鼻粘液传播（我们不能确定传播仅通过呼吸道途径发生）。该模型的未来应用将使我们能够评估感染控制措施、疫苗和抗病毒策略，以减少疾病传播。
