Investigation of Mpox virus spillover and spillback at the human-animal interface in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The re-emerging Mpox virus (formerly monkeypox virus or MPXV) is a global health problem evidenced by the current outbreak involving > 110 countries. Previous outbreaks in people have been driven by virus spillover from an unknown animal reservoir in endemic regions. Although Mpox virus infection in humans can lead to a painful disease that may result in death, the roles of animal reservoirs and the potential of establishing new animal reservoirs globally have been largely neglected. We previously established the International Monkeypox Response Consortium (IMReC) including researchers in endemic regions of continental Africa such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as well as international virologists to rapidly mobilize existing Mpox virus expertise to contain the current global outbreak in humans. To address the Mpox One Health knowledge gaps in the DRC as well as the potential risk to wildlife outside of endemic regions, we designed a new project to understand the mechanisms driving transmission at the human-animal interface. To this end, we added a viral disease ecologist to our IMReC team. Leveraging the existing infrastructure from IMReC in the DRC, we will follow positive human cases to determine possible Mpox virus spillover from wildlife animal reservoirs as well as spillback into companion animals driven by infected humans. Sequencing positive human and animal samples will be used to develop a model of transmission chains. Follow-up in vitro studies utilizing primary cell lines derived from Canadian wildlife will determine the potential of Mpox virus to establish endemicity in Canada. Together, our project will provide critical information regarding Mpox virus at the human-animal interface. Through our connections with regional partners and international stakeholders, including the WHO, this information will help design containment strategies in endemic regions and recommendations to prevent endemicity in non-endemic regions such as Canada.