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Review
. 2025 Apr;97(4):e70337.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.70337.

Monkeypox Virus and Pregnancy

Jonatane Andrieu  1 , Jean-Louis Mège  1   2 , Soraya Mezouar  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Monkeypox Virus and Pregnancy

Jonatane Andrieu et al. J Med Virol. 2025 Apr.

Abstract

Human monkeypox (Mpox) is a zoonotic disease caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV) present in western Africa and exported sporadically worldwide. MPXV causes illness in individuals and pregnant women which constitute a population at risk with obstetrical and fetal complications including miscarriage, stillbirth and premature delivery. There are accumulated data suggesting a vertical transmission of MPXV from mother to fetus. This review provides an overview of the literature on MPXV infection in pregnant women with a specific focus on vertical transmission.

Keywords: Monkeypox; fetus; placenta; pregnancy; vertical transmission.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phylogeny and evolution of MPXV over time. (A) Illustrative representation of the phylogeny of the various MPXV clades with a set of variants identified during the various epidemics. (B) Highlighting of the various MPXV clade I subgroups, with the last two variants responsible for the last two epidemics. (C) Structures and mutations of the last two variants responsible for the latest epidemics.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Clinicals outcome of MPXV infection in a vertebrate with different entry route. (A) Highlighting of all the clinical symptoms of MPXV infection, depending on the route of entry of the virus, with prodromal symptoms (highlighted in red). (B) Immunopathogenesis of MPXV in the placenta, with infection of different types of trophoblasts in the placental villi, but also of different types of placental macrophages. (C) Vertical transmission of MPXV infection to the fetus, with various fetal injuries and complications.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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