A tale of two clades: monkeypox viruses.
Human monkeypox was first recognized outside Africa in 2003 during an outbreak in the USA that was traced to imported monkeypox virus (MPXV)-infected West African rodents. Unlike the smallpox-like disease described in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; a Congo Basin country), disease in the USA appeared milder. Here, analyses compared clinical, laboratory and epidemiological features of confirmed human monkeypox case-patients, using data from outbreaks in the USA and the Congo Basin, and the results suggested that human disease pathogenicity was associated with the viral strain. Genomic sequencing of USA, Western and Central African MPXV isolates confirmed the existence of two MPXV clades. A comparison of open reading frames between MPXV clades permitted prediction of viral proteins that could cause the observed differences in human pathogenicity between these two clades. Understanding the molecular pathogenesis and clinical and epidemiological properties of MPXV can improve monkeypox prevention and control.
Likos
Anna M
AM
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Sammons
Scott A
SA
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Olson
Victoria A
VA
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Frace
A Michael
AM
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Li
Yu
Y
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Olsen-Rasmussen
Melissa
M
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Davidson
Whitni
W
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Galloway
Renee
R
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Khristova
Marina L
ML
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Reynolds
Mary G
MG
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Zhao
Hui
H
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Carroll
Darin S
DS
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Curns
Aaron
A
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Formenty
Pierre
P
World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Esposito
Joseph J
JJ
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Regnery
Russell L
RL
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Damon
Inger K
IK
National Center for Infectious Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G43, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
D000818:Animals; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D016679:Genome, Viral; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008993:Monkeypox virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D045908:Mpox, Monkeypox / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology
D004279:DNA, Viral