ArticleScience (New York, N.Y.)2023
APOBEC3 deaminase editing in mpox virus as evidence for sustained human transmission since at least 2016.
Article in Science (New York, N.Y.), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 140 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
140 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Dynamics of global mpox epidemics, 1970-2025: a systematic review and meta-analysis of evolving transmissibility and intervention effects.BMJ global health · 2026Pooled it
- Seminal fluid enhances monkeypox virus infection via amyloidogenic fibrils.Emerging microbes & infections · 2026Article
- Epidemiology and phylogenomic characterization of the Clade IIb C.1 Mpox outbreak in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (2023-2024).Emerging microbes & infections · 2026Article
- An integrated review of monkeypox: from pathogen and epidemiology to diagnostics, control, and challenges.Emerging microbes & infections · 2026Review
- Nextstrain automates real-time phylogenetic analysis of open data for endemic and emerging pathogens.Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- A generalized lineage nomenclature for viral genomic epidemiology.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- A comprehensive overview of monkeypox virus disease.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Review
- APOBEC3-driven attenuation of the 2022 global outbreak monkeypox virus relative to its clade IIb ancestor.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Distinct Inflammatory Immune Signature in Acute Mpox Associated With Proctitis.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Exploration of the protein and pharmacological landscape of monkeypox virus treatment: from entry point to end point.Molecular diversity · 2026Review
- Six Cases of Borealpox and Evidence of a Zoonotic Source: Alaska, 2020-2023.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Mpox emergence, epidemiology, biology, clinical features and control.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Highly efficient anogenital transmission of clade Ia monkeypox virus associated with increased shedding.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Recent advances in Mpox across innate immunity, evasion, and clinical outcomes.Communications biology · 2026Review
- Genomic, virologic, and epidemiologic surveillance to track intrafamilial Mpox, Brazil.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- APOBEC cellular enzymes as 'court jesters' in SARS-CoV-2 evolution.Virus genes · 2026Article
- Epidemiology and characteristics of cases with monkeypox virus clade I in the WHO European Region, 2024 to 2025.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2026Article
- Assessing mpox knowledge and sexual behaviours within high-risk populations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- A viral APOBEC3 antagonist distinguishes HHV-6A from HHV-6B.Nature communications · 2026Article
80 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
21 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Historically, mpox has been characterized as an endemic zoonotic disease that transmits through contact with the reservoir rodent host in West and Central Africa. However, in May 2022, human cases of mpox were detected spreading internationally beyond countries with known endemic reservoirs. When the first cases from 2022 were sequenced, they shared 42 nucleotide differences from the closest mpox virus (MPXV) previously sampled. Nearly all these mutations are characteristic of the action of APOBEC3 deaminases, host enzymes with antiviral function. Assuming APOBEC3 editing is characteristic of human MPXV infection, we developed a dual-process phylogenetic molecular clock that-inferring a rate of ~6 APOBEC3 mutations per year-estimates that MPXV has been circulating in humans since 2016. These observations of sustained MPXV transmission present a fundamental shift to the perceived paradigm of MPXV epidemiology as a zoonosis and highlight the need for revising public health messaging around MPXV as well as outbreak management and control.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.