Julia R Port, Jade C Riopelle, Samuel G Smith, Lara Myers, Franziska K Kaiser, Matthew C Lewis, Shane Gallogly, Atsushi Okumura, Trent Bushmaker, Jonathan E Schulz, Rebecca Rosenke, Jessica Prado-Smith, Aaron Carmody, Sidy Bane, Brian J Smith, Greg Saturday, Heinz Feldmann, Kyle Rosenke, Vincent J Munster
The 2022 mpox virus (MPXV) outbreak was sustained by human-to-human transmission; however, it is currently unclear which factors lead to sustained transmission of MPXV. Here we present Mastomys natalensis as a model for MPXV transmission after intraperitoneal, rectal, vaginal, aerosol and transdermal inoculation with an early 2022 human outbreak isolate (Clade IIb). Virus shedding and tissue replication were route dependent and occurred in the presence of self-resolving localized skin, lung, reproductive tract or rectal lesions...
April 22, 2024: Nature Microbiology