Scientists Say Current Monkeypox Infection Similar to Strain Exported from Nigeria to Britain in 2018 … Warn Virus has Hypermutated

Ololade Adeyanju/

Researchers have calculated the Monkeypox virus currently spreading in Europe and the United States is closely related to the same West African strain that was exported from Nigeria to Britain, Israel and Singapore in 2018 and 2019.

This is just as scientists have warned that Monkeypox has evolved “far more” than expected, as the virus usually only seen in Africa continues to sweep the world.

Seventeen countries have now detected the virus this month in an unprecedented global outbreak, sparking concerns it may have learned to spread easier among humans.

Portuguese virologists, tasked with conducting Covid-like studies to trace the virus’s evolution, claim the strain currently circulating is very similar to one that cropped up in Britain four years ago.

But samples taken from a handful of patients struck down in the fresh outbreak suggest the virus has collated an extra 50 mutations, MailOnline reports.

Researchers wrote that this was “far more than one would expect considering the estimated substitution rate for orthopoxviruses”. They also warned that an “evolutionary jump” — like with the Covid Omicron strain — may have created a “hyper-mutated virus”.

Meanwhile, the Danish manufacturer of the smallpox vaccine, which is also effective against monkeypox, last year warned outbreaks were becoming more frequent. It claimed it could be down to the virus’s “genetic evolution”.

However, experts are still analysing the monkeypox genome and the World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday said there is no sign that the virus has mutated. The strain currently circulating is much milder than others.

Health chiefs are alarmed about the cluster of cases, which has disproportionately struck gay and bisexual men. Yesterday experts warned that monkeypox could spread to pets and wildlife and become endemic in Europe.

A senior WHO official yesterday claimed the leading theory explaining the spread of the disease was sexual behaviour at two raves held in Belgium and Spain. 

Meanwhile, experts at Portugal’s National Institute of Health in Lisbon, who analysed the monkeypox strains, said the multi-country outbreak “most likely has a single origin” at a super-spreader event.

The disease, first discovered in lab monkeys in the late 1950s, is usually mild but can cause severe illness in some cases. It can kill up to 10 percent of people it infects. The milder strain causing the current outbreak kills one in 100 — similar to when Covid first hit.

Monkeypox has an incubation period of anywhere up to 21 days, meaning it can take three weeks for symptoms to appear.

Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.

A rash can develop, often beginning on the face, which then spreads to other parts of the body — including the genitals. The rash can look like chickenpox or syphilis, and scabs can form which then fall off.

Dr Joana Isidro and colleagues analysed nine genome sequences of monkeypox, gathered from patients infected with the virus during the latest outbreak. 

They discovered that each virus had 50 extra mutations, on average, compared to the cases detected in previous outbreaks, the pre-print states.

This is “far more than one would expect” based on the number of changes expected for orthopox viruses, a family of viruses that also includes smallpox but not chickenpox.

Their findings, which suggest the cases all stem from a “single origin”, have yet to be examined by other scientists.

Viruses constantly mutate and most versions of viruses are not of concern. DNA-based viruses such as monkeypox tend to evolve slower. 

Dr Emilia Skirmuntt, a virologist at Oxford University, said some sequences contain multiple mutations and deletions. She noted that experts previously believed these could increase human-to-human transmission of the virus.

Skirmuntt said, however, “despite the possible higher than expected transmission rate” it is “still not even close” to the speed at which Covid spread.

And the disease symptoms “are very mild and we have an effective vaccine”, she added.

Meanwhile, researchers from Bavarian Nordic warned in December, before the start of the outbreak, of an “escalation” in monkeypox cases fuelled by increasing human-to-human transmission.

Writing in a pre-print, the team said this could be down to a drop in immunity against monkeypox because the smallpox jab is no longer routinely offered.

“Overall, monkeypox is gradually evolving to become of global relevance,” the experts said.

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