Ivory Coast Monkeys eat squirrels and catch monkey pox

More vaccinations are needed! Perhaps, the Smallpox eradication in 1980 was too successful!

"Scientists have identified the fire-footed rope squirrel as a potential mpox reservoir host—a discovery that could help researchers understand cross-species spillover. 

DNA from the squirrel matched virus samples taken from mpox-infected sooty mangabey monkeys during an outbreak in Ivory Coast. Researchers believe the monkeys were infected after eating squirrels with the virus.

Implications: While more research is needed, the findings are “a landmark contribution to understanding mpox dynamics,” said an Africa CDC biologist."

"... In a preprint ... the team ended up pinpointing one particular rodent species: the fire-footed rope squirrel (Funisciurus pyrropus).

“Exposure to those squirrels is likely responsible for some human mpox outbreaks as well,” ...

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) was first discovered in research monkeys in a laboratory in Copenhagen in 1958—hence its name. (The disease was renamed mpox in 2022 to avoid stigmatizing patients, but the virus is still known as monkeypox virus.) Researchers have long assumed the real reservoirs for the virus in nature are rodents. The number of mpox outbreaks has increased dramatically since its cousin, smallpox, was declared eradicated in 1980. That’s in part because immunization against smallpox ceased and that vaccine also provides protection against mpox. ..."

From the abstract:

"Mpox, caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV; Orthopoxvirus monkeypox), is on the rise in West and Central Africa. Most outbreaks are short-lived, but MPXV has recently caused larger epidemics driven by sustained human-to-human transmission.

It is widely accepted that mpox outbreaks originate in zoonotic events. African rodents, especially squirrels, are suspected to be involved in MPXV emergence, but no formal link to human or nonhuman primate outbreaks has been established. Here, we describe an outbreak of MPXV in a group of wild sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) in Taï National Park (Côte d’Ivoire).

The outbreak affected one third of the group between January and April 2023, 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 3 km from the mangabey territory 12 weeks before the outbreak. MPXV genomes from the squirrel and the mangabey were identical.

To establish a potential link between these species, we investigated the diet of these mangabeys. We found one video record of consumption of the same squirrel species in 2014.

In addition, we performed metabarcoding analyses of faecal samples collected from mangabeys in the four months prior to the outbreak, which identified two faecal samples containing the DNA of the fire-footed rope squirrel. One of these samples was also the first positive for MPXV in the mangabey group.

This represents an exceptionally rare case of direct detection of an interspecies transmission event, made possible only by long-term health monitoring. Our findings strongly suggest rope squirrels were the source of the MPXV outbreak in mangabeys. Since squirrels and nonhuman primates are hunted, traded, and consumed by humans in West and Central Africa, exposure to these animals is likely responsible for at least a fraction of human mpox outbreaks."

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How do mpox outbreaks start? Dead baby monkey provides important clue "“Landmark” study fingers fire-footed rope squirrel as a reservoir of fatal disease"

Fire-footed rope squirrels (Funisciurus pyrropus) are a reservoir host of monkeypox virus (Orthopoxvirus monkeypox)

A sooty mangabey mother carries her baby with mpox lesions on its face in Taï National Park.

In medieval England, leprosy bounced between humans and squirrels

Amazing stuff! Concerning too! Are downplaying or ignoring zoonoses?

"For the first time, researchers have genetically identified leprosy-causing bacteria in archaeological animal remains—indicating, in this case, that the disease circulated between red squirrels and humans in medieval England. The evidence came from archaeological sites in the city of Winchester, which during the Middle Ages had both a thriving squirrel fur trade and a hospital for leprosy patients, setting the stage for interspecies transmissions. Some medieval Brits even kept the arboreal rodents as pets.

While some modern red squirrels in England still carry leprosy, there’s no evidence of them passing it to humans, as the disease requires frequent close contact with an infected host. But experts argue that considering the interspecies history of leprosy, rather than focusing solely on human infections, can help us anticipate where and how transmission risk might increase. That approach could apply to other nonhuman carriers, too—such as armadillos, which have been linked to a handful of human cases in the Americas. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• Genetic evidence of M. leprae infection in medieval English red squirrels

• Ancient M. leprae squirrel strain related to ancient human strains in the same city

• Results suggest a yet-undetected circulation of M. leprae in medieval animal hosts

• First One Health approach for M. leprae about a medieval animal strain

Summary

Leprosy, one of the oldest recorded diseases in human history, remains prevalent in Asia, Africa, and South America, with over 200,000 cases every year. Although ancient DNA (aDNA) approaches on the major causative agent, Mycobacterium leprae, have elucidated the disease’s evolutionary history, the role of animal hosts and interspecies transmission in the past remains unexplored. Research has uncovered relationships between medieval strains isolated from archaeological human remains and modern animal hosts such as the red squirrel in England. However, the time frame, distribution, and direction of transmissions remains unknown. Here, we studied 25 human and 12 squirrel samples from two archaeological sites in Winchester, a medieval English city well known for its leprosarium and connections to the fur trade. We reconstructed four medieval M. leprae genomes, including one from a red squirrel, at a 2.2-fold average coverage. Our analysis revealed a phylogenetic placement of all strains on branch 3 as well as a close relationship between the squirrel strain and one newly reconstructed medieval human strain. In particular, the medieval squirrel strain is more closely related to some medieval human strains from Winchester than to modern red squirrel strains from England, indicating a yet-undetected circulation of M. leprae in non-human hosts in the Middle Ages. Our study represents the first One Health approach for M. leprae in archaeology, which is centered around a medieval animal host strain, and highlights the future capability of such approaches to understand the disease’s zoonotic past and current potential."

ScienceAdvisor

Ancient Mycobacterium leprae genome reveals medieval English red squirrels as animal leprosy host (open access)

Figure 1Location of the leprosarium of St Mary Magdalen and Staple Gardens in Winchester (center circle), within the UK

China’s fur farms carry “a high risk” of animal-to-human disease transmission. Really!

The obsession with zoonoses and related hysteria and alarmism continues!

If this was so dangerous, humans would be all dead a long time ago!

More distractions from the lab leak hypothesis of the global Covid-19 pandemic!

Global Health NOW: One Year into Sudan’s ‘Forgotten’ War; Outbreak Prep for All; and Alcohol Label Debate China’s fur farms carry “a high risk” of animal-to-human disease transmission, per a Humane Society International investigation of five fur farms housing foxes, raccoon dogs, and mink. Reuters

Cornell scientists identify bird flu infecting dairy cows in Texas

Have you wondered why these news about the "highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus" is being pushed so hard? Just a case of alarmism and hysteria?

Do they want you to eat less meat! Could that be one of the ulterior motives? To save the planet from the Global Warming hoax and Climate Change religion?

I previously blogged here a few days ago about this subject. 

"... HPAI is well-known for its ability to infect various animal species. It is fatal among birds, where it attacks the gastrointestinal tract and the nervous system. Since 2022, the HPAI outbreak has killed [or culled?] millions of commercial poultry and wild birds, and the virus has been detected in many wild carnivores such as foxes that feed on carcasses of dead birds and often suffer the same fate. ..."

Cornell scientists identify bird flu infecting dairy cows | Cornell Chronicle

Sick Cattle Infect Texan with H5N1, the only the second-ever confirmed case in the U.S.. Really!

So what! Again a case of alarmism and hysteria! These kind of infections are very rare!

Who knows how often this (zoonoses) has happened in the past, but we were not able to detect it. How dangerous is this virus really?

"... The patient reported eye redness (consistent with conjunctivitis), as their only symptom, and is recovering. ..."

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Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus Infection Reported in a Person in the U.S. (CDC) CDC’s Risk Assessment for the General Public Remains Low

Could the next pandemic come from pets? Really!

More alarmism and hysteria spread by the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science)! The AAAS is irresponsible and reckless! And the AAAS blames climate change!

Humans have domesticated animals for about 15,000 years. If there was such a danger from zoonoses we would be all dead a long time ago!

"As the COVID-19 pandemic made painfully clear, diseases that spillover from animals to humans [???]can cause devastating outbreaks. Evaluating which animals are likely reservoirs for potential pathogens and studying the nature of the diseases they carry is understandably a priority for epidemiological research. But researchers may not need to trek deep into jungles or go spelunking to find the next zoonotic virus—it may already be lurking in our homes or backyards, inside our favorite furry and feathered friends. ..." (Source)

From the abstract:

"The spillover of human infectious diseases from animal reservoirs is now well appreciated [???]. However, societal and climate-related changes [???] are affecting the dynamics of such interfaces. In addition to the disruption of traditional wildlife habitats, in part because of climate change [???] and human demographics and behavior, there is an increasing zoonotic disease risk from companion animals. This includes such factors as the awareness of animals kept as domestic pets and increasing populations of free-ranging animals in peri-domestic environments. This review presents background and commentary focusing on companion and peri-domestic animals as disease risk for humans, taking into account the human-animal interface and population dynamics between the animals themselves."

Backyard zoonoses: The roles of companion animals and peri-domestic wildlife | Science Translational Medicine (open access)

Fig. 1. Pathways for zoonotic spillovers between and via (peri-)domestic species.

Lessons from the host defenses of bats, a unique viral reservoir

Amazing stuff! Why are bats capable of hosting so many viruses without getting sick? Why are bats so unique? Why do we still not know more about bats?

"There have been several major outbreaks of emerging viral diseases, including Hendra, Nipah, Marburg and Ebola virus diseases, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)—as well as the current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Notably, all of these outbreaks have been linked to suspected zoonotic transmission of bat-borne viruses. Bats—the only flying mammal—display several additional features that are unique among mammals, such as a long lifespan relative to body size, a low rate of tumorigenesis and an exceptional ability to host viruses without presenting clinical disease. ... Recent studies suggest that 64 million years of adaptive evolution have shaped the host defence system of bats to balance defence and tolerance, which has resulted in a unique ability to act as an ideal reservoir host for viruses. ... Studying the mechanisms of immune tolerance in bats could lead to new approaches to improving human health. ... The ability of bats to harbour many viruses—and zoonotic coronaviruses in particular—may result from their ability to efficiently regulate host responses to infection, although species richness may also have a role ...
bats represent 1,423 of the more than 6,400 known species of mammal ...
Bats have been associated with infectious diseases for centuries. Their role in the transmission of rabies virus led Metchnikov to investigate fruit bat macrophages and their immune responses in 1909 ...
By contrast, infected bats show no or minimal signs of disease even when high viral titres are detected in tissues or sera, which suggests that they are tolerant of viral diseases ...
Humans express minimal baseline levels of type I interferons (IFNs), and they are highly inducible upon stimulation. By comparison, the black flying fox (Pteropus alecto) constitutively expresses some baseline IFNα, and many species of bats express several IFN-stimulated genes before stimulation. ... The kinetics of the IFN response in bats also differs from those of other mammals, with a faster decline phase for some bat interferon-stimulated genes. In addition, several antiviral genes ... are IFN-induced in bats but not in other mammals or have undergone selection pressure to potentially alter function, such as those encoding Mx proteins96 and APOBEC397 ...
In addition to the innate immune responses, recent studies have shed light on other mechanisms of bat host defence. Enhanced autophagy has a key role in the increased clearance of lyssavirus from bat cells, and is known to regulate immunity and mediate pathogen clearance. Bats express very high levels of heat-shock proteins, which confers upon bat cells the ability to survive at high temperature and high oxidative stress in vitro. ...
Both naturally infected and experimentally infected bats indicate tolerance of viral infection, even during a transient phase of high viral titres. ... This supports an immunological tolerance to RNA viruses in bats, particularly during the acute response. ..."

Lessons from the host defences of bats, a unique viral reservoir | Nature (open access)

Bats show an excellent balance between enhanced host defence responses and immune tolerance through several mechanisms. Examples of enhanced host defences include constitutive expression of IFNs and interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), increased expression of heat-shock proteins (HSPs), a higher base level expression of the efflux pump ABCB1 and enhanced autophagy. On the other hand, dampened STING and suppressed inflammasome pathways—such as dampened NLRP3, loss of PYHIN and downstream IL-1β—contribute to immune tolerance in bats.