Genomics reveals zoonotic and sustained human mpox spread in West Africa

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: 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, Moise Henri; Messanga Essengue, Loique Landry; Yonga, Martial Gides Wansi; Essima, Gael Dieudonne; Touoyem, Ibrahim Pascal; Mounchili, Landry Jules Mouliem; Eyangoh, Sara Irene; Etoundi, Alain Georges Mballa; Esso, Linda; Nguidjol, Ines 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, Aine; 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.
• 署名单位: Redeemers University; Scripps Research Institute; University of Edinburgh; Centre Pasteur du Cameroun; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; University of California Los Angeles Medical Center; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; Harvard University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Broad Institute; Redeemers University; KU Leuven; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; University of California Los Angeles Medical Center; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Harvard University; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-1252
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09128-2
• 发表日期: 2025-07-31
• 关键词: monkeypox virus; transmission; DYNAMICS; nigeria

摘要

Five years before the 2022 multi-country mpox outbreak, Nigeria and Cameroon reported their first cases in more than three decades1,2. Whereas the outbreak in Nigeria is recognized as an ongoing human epidemic, the drivers of the resurgence in Cameroon remain unclear3,4. 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.