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An African monkey ate a rope squirrel and came down with mpox

A new study documents monkeypox jumping between wild species for the first time

An infant sooty mangabey sleeps in its mother arms. Mpox lesions are visible on its visible body parts: its head, ears and arm.

In 2023, an outbreak of mpox erupted among a group of sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) in Côte d’Ivoire’s Taï National Park. Roughly a third of the group, including infants (one shown) fell ill. A new study suggests a fire-footed rope squirrel eaten by one of the monkeys may have been the source.

Taï Chimpanzee Project, Carme Riutord-Fe/HIOH

By Erin Garcia de Jesús

A monkey making a meal of a squirrel may have sparked an outbreak.