Monkeypox Outbreak Strain Has Far More Mutations Than Expected

Monkeypox Outbreak Strain Has Far More Mutations Than Expected Evidence of continued adaptation may account for suspected increase in transmissibility Kristina Fiore medpagetoday

The strain of monkeypox involved in the current global outbreak differs from its parent strain by about 50 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) -- far more than would be expected for an orthopoxvirus, researchers reported.

There's also evidence of continued evolution and adaptation during human-to-human transmission that's occurring faster than expected, which may account for its apparently increased transmissibility, João Paulo Gomes, PhD, of Portugal's National Institute of Health in Lisbon, and colleagues reported in Nature Medicine.

"Considering the genome characteristics of this type of virus, no more than one or two mutations are likely to emerge each year," Gomes told MedPage Today via email. "However, considering that this 2022 [strain] is likely a descendant of one in the 2017 Nigeria outbreak, one would expect no more than five to 10 additional mutations instead of the observed about 50 mutations."  ...