Surveillance of poxviruses (Mpox virus and Vaccinia virus) in domestic animals

• Grant number: 24/18740-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2024
• End date: November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Camila Michele Appolinario
• Grantee: Matheus Ramalho Pereira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

As of May 2022, an increase in the number of cases of infections with the Mpox virus, a poxvirus, has been recorded worldwide in countries considered to be non-endemic for the disease. At the same time, a rapid spread of the pathogen in Central African countries was observed, including regions where the disease is considered endemic, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Gabon. Faced with this scenario and aware of the pathogenic potential and spread of poxviruses, on August 14, 2024 the Director-General of the WHO determined, for the second time in two years, that the global outbreak of Mpox virus constitutes a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern". This concern on the part of global health authorities is justified by the pandemic potential inherent in poxviruses, as humanity has already experienced with the smallpox virus. This research project aims to investigate the presence of Mpox virus DNA in companion and production animals in regions with previous circulation of Vaccinia virus, to assess their risk of becoming a reservoir and to verify the association with clinical signs that they may show. It also aims to assess the presence of antibodies against Orthopoxvirus in these samples, which would indicate possible viral contact. To this end, samples of dogs, cats and cows from the municipalities of Botucatu, Torre de Pedra and Anhembi, located in the central-western region of the state of São Paulo, with or without symptoms compatible with the typical exanthematous illness of poxviruses, will be analyzed. At the same time, an epidemiological questionnaire will be administered to those responsible for the animals, in order to gather relevant information about the epidemiological context and environmental conditions of these individuals' properties, as well as the health history of each animal.The results obtained from the molecular and serological tests and the epidemiological questionnaire will be evaluated by correlating variables.