MPXV由火足绳松鼠传染给黑白眉猴，这一成果由德国亥姆霍兹健康研究所Fabian H. Leendertz小组经过不懈努力而取得。该项研究成果发表在2026年2月11日出版的《自然》上。

在这里，该研究团队描述了科特迪瓦塔伊国家公园中一群野生黑白眉猴（Cercocebthem atys）MPXV的爆发。该疫情波及群体中三分之一的个体，导致4只幼猴死亡。为追溯疫情起源，团队分析了该地区的啮齿类动物及野生动物尸体，在疫情暴发前12周于乌黑白眉猴领地3公里处发现一只感染猴痘病毒并已死亡的火足绳松鼠（Funisciurus pyrropus）。在疫情爆发前几周松鼠和白眉猴的MPXV基因组几乎相同。2014年的一段视频记录显示，这群白眉猴吃的是同一种松鼠，对疫情爆发前从白眉猴身上收集的粪便样本进行元条形码分析，发现两个样本含有火足绳松鼠的DNA。其中一个样本也是MPXV首次阳性。这是直接发现种间传播的罕见病例。他们的发现表明，绳松鼠是白眉猴MPXV爆发的罪魁祸首。在西非和中非，由于松鼠和非人类灵长类动物被人类猎杀、交易和食用，因此接触这些动物可能代表MPXV人畜共患传播的风险。

据了解，由猴痘病毒（MPXV；正痘病毒猴痘）引起的猴痘在西非和中非呈上升趋势。非洲啮齿动物，特别是松鼠，被怀疑与MPXV的出现有关，但没有证据表明MPXV直接传播给人类或非人类灵长类动物。

附：英文原文

Title: Transmission of MPXV from fire-footed rope squirrels to sooty mangabeys

Author: Riutord-Fe, Carme, Schlotterbeck, Jasmin, Lagostina, Lorenzo, Kouadio, Leonce, Herridge, Harriet R., Jochum, Moritz J. S., Noma, Nea Yves, Lpez-Morales, Ane, Hoffmann, Donata, Calvelage, Sten, Khl, Hjalmar, Mielke, Alexander, Crockford, Catherine, Samuni, Liran, Wittig, Roman M., Beer, Martin, Gonedel-Bi, Sery, Gogarten, Jan F., Calvignac-Spencer, Sbastien, Dx, Ariane, Patrono, Livia V., Leendertz, Fabian H.

Issue&Volume: 2026-02-11

Abstract: Mpox, caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV; Orthopoxvirus monkeypox), is on the rise in West and Central Africa1,2,3. African rodents, especially squirrels, are suspected to be involved in MPXV emergence, but no evidence of a direct transmission to humans or non-human primates has been established4,5,6,7,8,9. Here we describe an outbreak of MPXV in a group of wild sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) in Ta National Park (Cte d’Ivoire). The outbreak affected one-third of the group, killing four infants. To track its origin, we analysed rodents and wildlife carcasses from the region. We identified a MPXV-infected fire-footed rope squirrel (Funisciurus pyrropus), found dead 3km from the mangabey territory 12weeks before the outbreak. MPXV genomes from the squirrel and the mangabey were nearly identical. A video record from 2014 showed a mangabey from this group eating the same squirrel species and diet metabarcoding of faecal samples collected from mangabeys before the outbreak identified two samples containing fire-footed rope squirrel DNA. One of these samples was also the first positive for MPXV. This represents a rare case of direct detection of interspecies transmission. Our findings indicate that rope squirrels were the source of the MPXV outbreak in mangabeys. Because squirrels and non-human primates are hunted, traded and consumed by humans in West and Central Africa10,11, exposure to these animals probably represents risk for zoonotic transmission of MPXV.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-10086-y

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-10086-y