May 19, 2025

Genomic data shows widespread mpox transmission in West Africa prior to 2022 global outbreak Scripps Research scientists, in collaboration with researchers in Nigeria and Cameroon, show that mpox circulated among humans in Nigeria for eight years before the international outbreak, highlighting the need for improved surveillance.

May 19, 2025

LA JOLLA, CA Historically, most human mpox infections have resulted from zoonotic transmission meaning from animals to humans and these spillovers have rarely led to human-to-human transmission. But during the 2022 global outbreak, mpox began spreading readily between people. A new study now shows the virus was circulating long before then.

Published in Nature on May 19, 2025, the study notes that mpox transmitted among humans in Nigeria for eight years before sparking the international outbreak in 2022. Using genomic tracing, the researchers estimate that the virus' ancestor first emerged in southern Nigeria in August 2014 and spread to 11 states before human infections were detected in 2017. The findings highlight the need for improved global surveillance and medicines, given the threat of impending pandemics.

We could have very easily prevented the 2022 multi-country outbreak if countries in Africa were given better access to therapeutics, vaccines and surveillance technologies, says Edyth Parker, a professional collaborator in the Kristian Andersen Lab at Scripps Research and one of the paper's first authors. In a vulnerably connected world, we cannot neglect epidemics until they get exported to the Global North.

Participants from the Pan-African mpox consortium collaborated to produce and analyze mpox genomic data from West and Central Africa, resulting in a dataset that is around three times larger than any previous mpox dataset. Credit: Fikayo Oyewale.

LINK:	https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2025/20250519-ander...
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