Monkey Exposed to Unknown Poxvirus

Red colobus monkeys in Uganda have been exposed to an unknown orthopoxvirus—a pathogen similar to the virus that causes smallpox. Scientists were screening the monkeys for disease, when they discovered that many of them harbored antibodies to an orthopoxvirus. Their findings were published online in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Tony Goldberg, lead author and a professor of veterinary pathobiology at the University of Illinois, said the fact that they found an unknown pathogen so quickly suggests that poxviruses could be much more diverse than originally thought. He also said that this finding should warrant some concern, because of the poxvirus’s ability to jump species. 

There are many different types of poxviruses, such as smallpox, monkeypox and cowpox. The virus found in the Ugandan colobus monkeys resembled other poxviruses but did not match identically.

--LiveScience Staff

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