Phylogenetic and ecologic perspectives of a monkeypox outbreak, southern Sudan, 2005.
Identification of human monkeypox cases during 2005 in southern Sudan (now South Sudan) raised several questions about the natural history of monkeypox virus (MPXV) in Africa. The outbreak area, characterized by seasonally dry riverine grasslands, is not identified as environmentally suitable for MPXV transmission. We examined possible origins of this outbreak by performing phylogenetic analysis of genome sequences of MPXV isolates from the outbreak in Sudan and from differing localities. We also compared the environmental suitability of study localities for monkeypox transmission. Phylogenetically, the viruses isolated from Sudan outbreak specimens belong to a clade identified in the Congo Basin. This finding, added to the political instability of the area during the time of the outbreak, supports the hypothesis of importation by infected animals or humans entering Sudan from the Congo Basin, and person-to-person transmission of virus, rather than transmission of indigenous virus from infected animals to humans.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. inp7@cdc.gov
Yoshinori
Y
Nakazawa
Ginny L
GL
Emerson
Darin S
DS
Carroll
Hui
H
Zhao
Yu
Y
Li
Mary G
MG
Reynolds
Kevin L
KL
Karem
Victoria A
VA
Olson
R Ryan
RR
Lash
Whitni B
WB
Davidson
Scott K
SK
Smith
Rebecca S
RS
Levine
Russell L
RL
Regnery
Scott A
SA
Sammons
Michael A
MA
Frace
Elmangory M
EM
Mutasim
Mubarak E M
ME
Karsani
Mohammed O
MO
Muntasir
Alimagboul A
AA
Babiker
Langova
L
Opoka
Vipul
V
Chowdhary
Inger K
IK
Damon
D000818:Animals; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006801:Humans; D058889:Molecular Typing; D045908:Mpox, Monkeypox / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D008993:Monkeypox virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013397:Sudan / Q000453:epidemiology