Pox virus articles from across Nature Portfolio

Genomic deletions in poxviruses are not well understood, the authors found large deletions in >2% of Mpox virus genomes during routine surveillance, highlighting their role in poxvirus evolution and potential impact on diagnostics and therapeutics.

HIV infection is associated with increased risk of more severe Mpox, yet the underlying mechanisms aren’t well understood. Here, the authors reveal increased MPXV replication and immune dysfunction in SIV-MPXV co-infected rhesus macaques and, using proteomics and phosphoproteomics from multiple organs, identify involved pathways.

Increased incidence of Monkey pox infection in humans has raised the need for efficacious interventional approaches. Here the authors administer a multivalent mRNA vaccine for monkey pox virus in a mouse model, showing protection and characterising the induced immune responses.

In 2022, mpox predominantly spread through sexual contact, necessitating updated prevention strategies. Here, the authors show that rectal challenge in male cynomolgus macaques with a 2022 clade IIb MPXV isolate mimics sexual transmission, and that vaccination with modified-vaccinia Ankara protects pre- but not post-exposure.

Monkeypox or Mpox represents a worldwide health emergency, and efficient vaccines are urgently needed. Here authors present a modified vaccinia virus as vaccine candidate, generated from the Tiantan strain by targeted gene deletion to make it replication-deficient, which elicits robust immune response in both mouse and macaque models, with favourable safety and long-lasting protection profiles in the non-human primates.

We propose a new nomenclature for mpox virus lineages with sustained human-to-human transmission to improve tracking, communication and public health response.

The human interaction with mpox has changed across its entire endemic range, revealing the endemic and pandemic risk of monkeypox virus and the current knowledge gaps on its biology that hamper virus control.

An increasing number of countries in Africa are reporting cases of mpox, prompting the World Health Organization to declare it a public health emergency of international concern.

A new study identified two distinct lineages of monkeypox virus (MPXV) in the United States with evidence of genome editing by host apolipoprotein B editing complex (APOBEC3) cytosine deaminase, which might be accelerating MPXV evolution.

A recent study investigated viral loads in clinical samples with the aim of understanding the distribution of monkeypox virus in the human body and how this distribution may be influencing viral transmission

The ongoing monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries is likely to be a consequence of the failure to curtail the spread of the disease in endemic regions of Africa despite decades of constant outbreaks. A globally driven one health approach to prevention and treatment of the disease is essential to control present and future outbreaks.