Parker Edyth, Omah Ifeanyi F, Djuicy Delia Doreen, Magee Andrew, Tomkins-Tinch Christopher H, Otieno James Richard, Varilly Patrick, Ayinla Akeemat Opeyemi, Sijuwola Ayotunde E, Ahmed Muhammad I, Ope-Ewe Oludayo O, Ogunsanya Olusola Akinola, Olono Alhaji, Saibu Femi Mudasiru, Eromon Philomena, Moumbeket Yifomnjou Moïse Henri, Messanga Essengue Loique Landry, Yonga Martial Gides Wansi, Essima Gael Dieudonné, Touoyem Ibrahim Pascal, Mounchili Landry Jules Mouliem, Eyangoh Sara Irene, Etoundi Alain Georges Mballa, Esso Linda, Nguidjol Inès Mandah Emah, Metomb Steve Franck, Chebo Cornelius, Agwe Samuel Mbah, Mossi Hans Makembe, Bilounga Chanceline Ndongo, Akanbi Olusola, Egwuenu Abiodun, Ehiakhamen Odianosen, Chukwu Chimaobi, Suleiman Kabiru, Akinpelu Afolabi, Ahmad Adama, Imam Khadijah Isa, Ojedele Richard, Oripenaye Victor, Ikeata Kenneth, Adelakun Sophiyah, Olajumoke Babatunde, O'Toole Áine, Zeller Mark, Gangavarapu Karthik, Park Daniel J, Mboowa Gerald, Tessema Sofonias Kifle, Tebeje Yenew Kebede, Folarin Onikepe, Happi Anise, Lemey Philippe, Suchard Marc A, Andersen Kristian G, Sabeti Pardis, Rambaut Andrew, Ihekweazu Chikwe, Jide Idris, Adetifa Ifedayo, Njouom Richard, Happi Christian T
African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Redeemer's University, Ede, Nigeria.
Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Nature. 2025 May 19. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09128-2.
Five years before the 2022 multi-country mpox outbreak, Nigeria and Cameroon reported their first cases in more than three decades. Whereas the outbreak in Nigeria is recognized as an ongoing human epidemic, the drivers of the resurgence in Cameroon remain unclear. The rate of zoonoses remains uncertain in both countries, and gaps in genomic data obscure the timing and zoonotic and geographic origin of monkeypox virus (MPXV) emergence in humans. Here, to address these uncertainties, we sequenced 118 MPXV genomes isolated from cases in Nigeria and Cameroon between 2018 and 2023. We show that in contrast to cases in Nigeria, cases in Cameroon are the result of repeated zoonoses, with two distinct zoonotic lineages circulating across the Nigeria-Cameroon border. Our findings suggest that shared animal populations in the cross-border forest ecosystems drive the emergence and spread of the virus. Accordingly, we identify the closest zoonotic outgroup to the Nigerian human epidemic lineage (hMPXV-1) in a southern Nigerian border state. We estimate that the shared ancestor of the zoonotic outgroup and hMPXV-1 circulated in animals in southern Nigeria in late 2013. We find that hMPXV-1 emerged in humans in August 2014 in the southern Rivers State and circulated undetected for three years. Rivers State was the main source of viral spread during the human epidemic. Our study sheds light on the recent establishment of MPXV in the human population and highlights the risk of persistent zoonotic emergence of MPXV in the complex border regions of Cameroon and Nigeria.
在2022年多国猴痘疫情爆发的五年前，尼日利亚和喀麦隆报告了三十多年来的首例病例。虽然尼日利亚的疫情被认为是一场持续的人间流行病，但喀麦隆疫情卷土重来的驱动因素仍不清楚。两国人畜共患病的发病率仍然不确定，基因组数据的差距掩盖了猴痘病毒（MPXV）在人类中出现的时间、人畜共患病起源和地理起源。在此，为了解决这些不确定性，我们对2018年至2023年间从尼日利亚和喀麦隆的病例中分离出的118个MPXV基因组进行了测序。我们发现，与尼日利亚的病例不同，喀麦隆的病例是反复发生人畜共患病的结果，有两个不同的人畜共患病谱系在尼日利亚-喀麦隆边境传播。我们的研究结果表明，跨境森林生态系统中共享的动物种群推动了病毒的出现和传播。因此，我们在尼日利亚南部边境州确定了与尼日利亚人间流行谱系（hMPXV-1）最接近的人畜共患病外类群。我们估计，人畜共患病外类群和hMPXV-1的共同祖先于2013年末在尼日利亚南部的动物中传播。我们发现，hMPXV-1于2014年8月在南部河流州的人类中出现，并在未被发现的情况下传播了三年。河流州是人间疫情期间病毒传播的主要来源。我们的研究揭示了MPXV最近在人群中的传播情况，并强调了在喀麦隆和尼日利亚复杂边境地区MPXV持续出现人畜共患病的风险。
