The team of virologists and researchers of the Irccs Policlinico San Matteo di Pavia Foundation, led by professor Fausto Baldantifor the first time in Italy he sequenced the entire genome of a strain of monkeypox virus (MPVX), taken from the skin vesicle swab of one of the patients returning from the Canary Islands.
The complete monkeypox genome was sequenced directly from the biological sample using a metagenomics approach with next generation sequencing (NGS).
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It belongs to the African “stock”
“A preliminary phylogenetic analysis clearly shows that the genome obtained belongs to the West African clade of monkeypox and is more closely correlated with the strains recently found in Portugal and the rest of Europe – explained Baldanti, director of UOC Microbiology and Virology of the Polyclinic of Pavia -. Currently the positive cases diagnosed at San Matteo are 4, and the sequencing of the 3 remaining cases is in progress. Finally, analyzes are underway for two further suspected cases “.
A team effort
“Congratulations to the team of researchers led by Professor Baldanti. An important result that certifies the very high international level achieved by the biomedical research of Lombardy’s healthcare”, commented the vice president and councilor for Welfare. Letizia Moratti.
The virologists and researchers who sequenced the genome are Antonio Piralla, Stefania Paolucci, Piera D’Angelo, Guglielmo FerrariStefano Gaiarsa, Federica Giardina, Greta Petazzoni e Federica Zavaglio.
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In Portugal the first result
But the first country to sequence the virus, which is advancing in many countries of the world, was Portugal, on 23 May. And already on that occasion the news had emerged: the virus seems “more closely related” to the strains detected in 2018 and 2019 in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Israel than to the monkeypox of the latest outbreak.
While in Italy the virus was isolated, but not yet sequenced, last May 27 by the laboratory of clinical microbiology, virology and diagnostics of bioemergences of the Sacco hospital in Milan.
What the DNA sequence showed
The DNA sequence, carried out by the Portuguese team of Jò Paulo Gomes of the National Institute of Health, showed that the virus in question is of the mild West African type. The researchers published information from the first draft of the viral genome online, as “New Scientist” reports.
It is still unclear, experts explain, whether this virus has any changes that make it more transmissible to humans, which would explain why the current outbreak is so widespread and by far the largest seen outside Central Africa. and western, where the virus spreads to monkeys.
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Cases around the world
Meanwhile, cases of monkeypox diagnosed around the world continue to increase: to date, 257 are laboratory confirmed and about 120 suspected. On the other hand, no deaths were reported. But the WHO warns that “the situation is evolving rapidly. Since May 13, monkeypox has been reported by 23 member states that are not endemic to the virus.
Many atypical cases “
“The vast majority of cases reported so far – reads the WHO update note – have not established travel links with an endemic area and have presented themselves through primary care or sexual health services”. Finally, WHO points out that the identification of confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox without direct links to an endemic area “is atypical” and a case of monkeypox in a non-endemic country “is considered an outbreak.