Monkeypox virus: Origin and outbreak

So far: Cases have been reported from all over the world, and monkeypox is attracting everyone’s attention.Current outbreaks have more than 220 confirmed case victims It is spread over 19 countries.UK, Spain, Portugal It leads the pack with the highest number of confirmed cases, but no deaths have been reported so far.

The current outbreak was interesting in many ways. Sporadic outbreaks have occurred in areas where travel from areas where outbreaks have occurred in Africa and several non-Africa regions have been recorded, but such a large-scale relapse across multiple countries has never been seen. It has not occurred. In addition, many of the affected patients did not travel to areas where the disease was thought to be endemic, and the first case was among young individuals who identified themselves as men (MSMs) having sex with men. There was a lot in, but it wasn’t exclusive.

What is the monkeypox virus?

Monkeypox is not a new virus. Viruses that belong to the poxvirus family of viruses are First identified in monkeys in 1958, So the name. The first human case was reported by the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970, with many sporadic outbreaks of animal-to-human and human-to-human transmissions in the past in Central and West Africa, resulting in significant mortality. Shown the rate. After the elimination of smallpox, monkeypox has become one of the major poxviruses in humans, and the number of affected age groups is decreasing and the number of cases is increasing year by year. Outbreaks were often self-limited, as infections only occur in close contact. Asymptomatic cases can unknowingly infect the disease because the incubation period ranges from 5 to 21 days and is often mild or self-limiting in the majority of affected people. I have. Outbreaks in Central Africa are believed to have been caused by close contact with animals in areas adjacent to the forest. The monkey may be just an accidental host, but the reservoir is unknown. It is believed that rodents and non-human primates may be potential reservoirs.

Does the virus mutate?

Monkeypox virus is a DNA virus with a very large genome of about 200,000 nucleotide bases. While it is a DNA virus, the mutation rate of monkeypox virus is significantly lower than that of RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 (mutation once or twice a year). Therefore, the low mutation rate limits the widespread application of genomic surveillance in providing detailed clues to the monkeypox infection network, unlike what was possible with SARS-CoV-2.

Many genomic sequences in Africa and around the world in recent years suggest that there are two different ramification groups of the virus: the Congo Basin / Central African ramification group and the West African ramification group. There are many more lines in each clade. The Central African / Congo Basin ramifications are believed to have higher transmission and toxicity compared to the West African ramifications. It is noteworthy and noteworthy that the vast capacity and expertise in sequencing and analysis of the genomic sequences of viral pathogens constructed during the COVID-19 pandemic helped investigate current outbreaks. increase.

What does the genome say?

With the current outbreak, monkeypox genome sequences exceed 12 from all over the world, and you can rest assured that the sequences are exactly the same as each other. This suggests that a small introduction has led to the spread of current cases. In addition, almost all genomes are derived from West African clade, with much lower mortality than Central African clade.

This is also broadly supported by the epidemiological understanding that the recent major congregations have contributed to the transmission that has spread to different countries. Unlike COVID-19, the slow mutation rate does not allow the use of genomic sequences to closely track contact networks, but the sequences belong primarily to West African viral strains and may be less pathogenic. It is shown. The viral genome has also shown to be very similar to recent outbreaks in Nigeria between 2017 and 2019, with current outbreaks not caused by any particular new variant. It suggests that it is probably related to a unique transmission network.

Is there an effective vaccine?

It is encouraging that we know quite a lot about viruses and their infection patterns. There are also effective ways to prevent the spread of the infection, such as vaccines. The smallpox / vaccinia vaccine provides protection. Vaccines were discontinued in 1980 following the eradication of smallpox, but emergency stockpiles of vaccines are maintained in many countries. Young people are less likely to be vaccinated and may be more susceptible to monkeypox. This may partially explain the appearance of monkeypox in young people.

Learning from the vast knowledge from African countries that have effectively managed monkeypox outbreaks in the past will be of great help in containing the present outbreaks. While there are many effective ways to contain outbreaks, such as contact tracing and vaccines, efforts to close health, knowledge, experience, and infrastructure gaps have long-term implications for future outbreak prevention and management, and are impartial. May contribute to. And the public health of the world.

The author is a researcher at the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB). All opinions expressed are personal.