Project
Kennissynthese monkeypox-virus en mogelijke reservoirpopulaties in Europa
Background Since the first report of a monkeypox case in the Netherlands on May 20, 2022, the infection has been spreading among humans and by the beginning of August, 2022, more than 900 infected people have been confirmed positive for infection. Monkeypox virus is a zoonotic virus, which, similar to cowpox virus, is able to infect different hosts. Therefore the monkeypox virus currently present in the Netherlands may have the potential to spill back to different animal species and might even establish (a) new animal reservoir(s), which in turn could become a public health risk. Therefore, animal species in close contact or proximity to humans such as mice, rats, rabbits, cats and farm animals (cows) are of particular concern and assessing their susceptibility to infection and potential for sustained transmission either within the same species or in a multi-host population (human-rats-cats) is relevant for the development of suitable control measures.
Objective
We propose to perform a qualitative risk assessment to identify susceptible animal species and rank these species based on their epidemiological relevance (potential reservoirs for humans).