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Research Project: Viral Ecology of Henipaviruses in Endemic Settings and Intervention Strategies to Prevent their Spread to Domestic Animals

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Title: Experimental inoculation of pigs with monkeypox virus results in productive infection and transmission to sentinels

Author
item MANTLO, EMILY - Kansas State University
item TRUJILLO, JESSIE - Kansas State University
item GAUDREAULT, NATASHA - Kansas State University
item MOROZOV, IGOR - Kansas State University
item LEWIS, CHARLES - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item MATIAS-FERREYRA, FRANCO - Kansas State University
item MCDOWELL, CHESTER - Kansas State University
item BOLD, DASHZEVEG - Kansas State University
item KWON, TAEYONG - Kansas State University
item COOL, KONNER - Kansas State University
item BALARAMAN, VELMURUGAN - Kansas State University
item MADDEN, DANIEL - Kansas State University
item ARTIAGA, BIANCA - Kansas State University
item SOUZA-NETO, JAYME - Kansas State University
item DOTY, JEFFREY - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item CAROSSINO, MARIANO - Louisiana State University
item BALASURIYA, UDENI - Louisiana State University
item Wilson, William
item OSTERRIEDER, NIKOLAUS - Kansas State University
item Hensley, Lisa
item RICHT, JUERGEN - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Emerging Microbes & Infections
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/2024
Publication Date: 6/11/2024
Citation: Mantlo, E., Trujillo, J.D., Gaudreault, N.N., Morozov, I., Lewis, C.E., Matias-Ferreyra, F., Mcdowell, C., Bold, D., Kwon, T., Cool, K., Balaraman, V., Madden, D., Artiaga, B., Souza-Neto, J., Doty, J.B., Carossino, M., Balasuriya, U., Wilson, W.C., Osterrieder, N., Hensley, L.E., Richt, J.A. 2024. Experimental inoculation of pigs with monkeypox virus results in productive infection and transmission to sentinels. Emerging Microbes & Infections. 13. Article 2352434. https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2024.2352434.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/22221751.2024.2352434

Interpretive Summary: This paper explores if domestic pigs are susceptible to mpox virus infection. During 2022 a global outbreak of mpox was recognized. Large numbers of cases of mpox in multiple countries were observed in humans. The number of cases and wide distribution of cases raised concerns that mpox infections might spill over to other species. This paper showed domestic pigs were susceptible to infection but did not develop signs of the illness. The infected pigs were able to transmit the virus to other pigs.

Technical Abstract: Mpox virus (MPXV) is a re-emerging zoonotic poxvirus responsible for producing predominantly skin lesions in humans. Endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, the most recent 2022 outbreak has resulted in ongoing sustained transmission of the virus worldwide. MPXV has a relatively wide host range, with infections reported in a variety of rodent and non-human primate (NHP) species. However, the susceptibility of many domestic species remains unknown. Here we report on a challenge-infection study in domestic pigs that were experimentally inoculated with a 2022 MPXV isolate or served as sentinel animals that were in-contact two days after challenge infection. While pigs did not develop any clinical signs of overt disease throughout the duration of the study, we detected viral DNA and infectious virus in nasal and oral swabs up to fourteen days post-challenge, with peak titers observed at seven days post-challenge. We also detected viral DNA in nasal tissues collected from one animal post-mortem. In addition, shedding of viral DNA was observed in nasal and oral swabs from all sentinel animals, and all animals in the study seroconverted. In summary, we provide the first evidence that domestic pigs are susceptible to MPXV infection and can transmit the virus to other animals.