article · PLoS ONE
Understanding how monkeypox spreads from animals to humans requires examining everyday activities and living conditions in affected regions. Using a risk questionnaire in rural Democratic Republic of the Congo, researchers evaluated lifestyles and demographics associated with presumed transmission risks. They created two measurement indices: a Household Materials Index to assess socioeconomic status, and a Risk Activity Index to quantify exposure to potential animal-to-human transmission. The findings show that rural residents rely more on forests than on markets to meet material needs, and that stated occupations fail to reflect the full variety of high-risk activities individuals undertake. Being bitten by rodents indoors was common and strongly linked to lower socioeconomic status. Although adult males and hunters had the highest risk scores, interactions with animals linked to monkeypox were reported across all demographic sub-groups, providing useful insights for disease prevention.
Monkeypox is a dangerous viral infection with an unknown animal reservoir. By pinpointing the domestic and forest activities that expose rural communities to potential animal carriers, this research helps public health authorities understand transmission pathways. This evidence allows health agencies to direct education, outreach, and preventative health interventions to the populations and daily settings where exposure is most likely to occur.
The findings represent early-stage epidemiological research rather than a marketable product. The primary application lies in public health surveillance and intervention planning. Health authorities, non-governmental organisations, and epidemiological programme designers could adopt the risk indices to target outreach and preventative resources more efficiently. Beyond these public health planning tools, the abstract does not indicate a direct commercialisation pathway.
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Monkeypox virus (MPXV), a close relative of Variola virus, is a zoonotic virus with an unknown reservoir. Interaction with infected wildlife, bites from peri-domestic animals, and bushmeat hunting are hypothesized routes of infection from wildlife to humans. Using a Risk Questionnaire, performed in monkeypox-affected areas of rural Democratic Republic of the Congo, we describe the lifestyles and demographics associated with presumptive risk factors for MPXV infection. We generated two indices to assess risk: Household Materials Index (HMI), a proxy for socioeconomic status of households and Risk Activity Index (RAI), which describes presumptive risk for animal-to-human transmission of MPXV. Based on participant self-reported activity patterns, we found that people in this population are more likely to visit the forest than a market to fulfill material needs, and that the reported occupation is limited in describing behavior of individuals may participate. Being bitten by rodents in the home was commonly reported, and this was significantly associated with a low HMI. The highest scoring RAI sub-groups were 'hunters' and males aged ≥ 18 years; however, several activities involving MPXV-implicated animals were distributed across all sub-groups. The current analysis may be useful in identifying at-risk groups and help to direct education, outreach and prevention efforts more efficiently.
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DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168664
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