Squirrels from West and Central Africa have emerged as possible carriers of the virus that causes monkeypox, after scientists found primates that had become infected after eating the squirrels.
Scientists will continue to study the role these proteins play in the transmission of the disease from primates to humans, and whether other rodents are involved. Article with results published on the preprint website Research Square.
Scientists have long been searching for animals that appear to carry the disease in the wild, contracting the virus without showing symptoms of monkeypox. They looked at a group of sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys), which can be infected with the same strains of monkeypox as humans. A third of the primates in this group contracted monkeypox in 2023, resulting in the deaths of four infants.
All the infected individuals had identical virus genomes, suggesting a single source of infection. In search of this source, the scientists analyzed the remains of a squirrel of the species Funisciurus pyrropus, which was found near the mangabey territory. It turned out to be infected with the monkeypox virus, the genome of which was identical to the genome of the pathogen in the sick primates.
To confirm that the mangabeys were indeed infected by eating the squirrel, the researchers analyzed their diet and found that the primates were indeed eating the squirrel. They also analyzed the mangabeys' feces and found the protein's DNA and traces of the monkeypox virus, which appeared to coincide with the outbreak in the group.
Although scientists have yet to confirm that squirrels do not get monkeypox, but rather are carriers, they believe that squirrels are just one part of the transmission network of monkeypox between wild animals in nature.
And since both squirrels and primates are hunted, sold, and consumed by local residents, this route of disease transmission may be at least partially responsible for outbreaks of monkeypox in the region.
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