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Bulletin of the World Health Organization logoLink to Bulletin of the World Health Organization
. 1976;53(4):355–360.

Monkeypox-specific antibodies in human and simian sera from the Ivory Coast and Nigeria*

R Gispen, B Brand-Saathof, A C Hekker
PMCID: PMC2366533  PMID: 186210

Abstract

A test for monkeypox-specific antibodies is described. Monkeypox immune sera can be made type-specific by immunoabsorption with heterotypic poxvirus extracts. Monkeypox-specific antibodies were demonstrated in sera from 9 cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) that had previously been experimentally infected with monkeypox. Monkeypox-specific antibodies were found in 3 wild-caught African monkeys (Cercopithecus spp.) and in 3 human sera collected from Africans in the Ivory Coast and Nigeria 3½-4 years after they had suffered a pox-like infection. Monkeypox had been recognized in one of the patients by virus isolation, and had been suspected in the others for epidemiological reasons. Vaccinia-specific antibodies were found in 4 human sera collected 6 weeks after smallpox vaccination.

The serological results provide the first laboratory evidence of a monkeypox reservoir in wild monkeys.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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