Addendum: Transmission of MPXV from fire-footed rope squirrels to sooty mangabeys

Addendum to: Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-10086-y Published online 11 February 2026In our Nature paper we identified transmission of MPXV from a fire-footed rope squirrel (F. pyrropus) to sooty mangabeys. A recent study suggested the elevation of West African populations of fire-footed rope squirrel to a separate species under the name F. leucostigma (ref. 1). We agree with this proposal and report that a mitogenomic phylogeny places the fire-footed rope squirrel in our study in the new taxon. This taxonomic revision has not yet been broadly adopted by major reference databases, so we retained the currently predominant nomenclature (a single species name for all populations: F. pyrropus) in our article. ReferencesCuraudeau, M. et al. Squirrel reservoirs of monkeypox virus are sister species separated by the Sanaga River (Cameroon), as are the two main viral clades. One Health 21, 101157 (2025).Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  Download referencesAuthor informationAuthor notesThese authors contributed equally: Carme Riutord-Fe, Jasmin Schlotterbeck, Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer, Ariane Düx, Livia V. Patrono, Fabian H. LeendertzAuthors and AffiliationsDepartment of Ecology and Emergence of Zoonotic Diseases, Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH), Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Greifswald, GermanyCarme Riutord-Fe, Jasmin Schlotterbeck, Lorenzo Lagostina, Harriet R. Herridge, Moritz J. S. Jochum, Nea Yves Noma, Ariane Düx, Livia V. Patrono & Fabian H. LeendertzTaï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d’IvoireCarme Riutord-Fe, Leonce Kouadio, Ane López-Morales, Catherine Crockford, Liran Samuni, Roman M. Wittig, Ariane Düx & Fabian H. LeendertzUniversité Peleforo Gon Coulibaly Korhogo, Korhogo, Côte d’IvoireLeonce KouadioSenckenberg Museum for Natural History Görlitz, Senckenberg—Member of the Leibniz Association, Görlitz, GermanyNea Yves Noma & Hjalmar KühlInstitute of Diagnostic Virology, Friedrich Loeffler Institute, Riems, GermanyDonata Hoffmann, Sten Calvelage & Martin BeerInternational Institute Zittau, Technische Universität Dresden, Zittau, GermanyHjalmar KühlCentre for Brain and Behaviour, Department of Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, UKAlexander MielkeApe Social Mind Lab, Institute of Cognitive Sciences, CNRS University of Lyon, Lyon, FranceCatherine Crockford & Roman M. WittigCooperative Evolution Lab, German Primate Center, Göttingen, GermanyLiran SamuniLaboratoire de Biotechnologie, Agriculture et Valorisation des Ressources Biologiques, UFR Biosciences, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny d’Abidjan-Cocody, Abidjan, Côte dâ€�