Scientists zero in on origins of monkeypox outbreak
Even though cases are rising, genetic analysis suggests the virus has been circulating silently in humans since 2018.
When the first cases of monkeypox were identified in early May, European health authorities were puzzled. The virus was not known to spread easily among people, let alone infect dozens - and soon hundreds - of young men.
The origins of the epidemic are now becoming clearer. Genetic analysis suggests that although the monkeypox virus spreads rapidly in the open air, it has been circulating silently among humans for years.
Those responsible for the Health have previously identified two versions of monkeypox among American patients, suggesting at least two distinct chains of transmission. Researchers from several countries have found cases with no known source of infection, indicating undetected community spread. And a research team argued last month that monkeypox had already crossed a threshold for sustained person-to-person transmission.
Genetic information available so far indicated that at some point in the past few years, the virus has spread better between people, said Trevor Bedford, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
'Genomic models would suggest this happened around 2018,' Dr Bedford said.
If the virus has adapted to include people as hosts, outbreaks of monkeypox could become more frequent and harder to contain. This carries the risk that monkeypox could spread from infected people to animals – most likely rodents – in countries outside of Africa, which has been battling the problem for decades. The virus can persist in infected animals, sporadically triggering new infections in humans.
“We can also transmit it to animals which can spread the disease in wildlife and to humans. said Sagan Friant, an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University who has studied human-animal interactions in Nigeria for about 15 years.
The longer it takes the longer it takes to contain the virus, the higher the chance it will find a new, permanent home in people or animals, Dr. Friant said. States and the District of Columbia. The global toll has topped 3,400 confirmed cases and another 3,500 cases are being assessed, tripling the number from two weeks ago.
In Africa, eight countries have reported more than 1,500 suspected cases and 72 deaths as of June 10, most of them in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Monkeypox is a large double-stranded DNA virus , about seven times as large as the coronavirus. DNA-based viruses can correct their own mistakes when they replicate their genetic material. They may only collect one or two mutations per year compared to 20 to 30 mutations for an RNA virus like the coronavirus.
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Even though cases are rising, genetic analysis suggests the virus has been circulating silently in humans since 2018.
When the first cases of monkeypox were identified in early May, European health authorities were puzzled. The virus was not known to spread easily among people, let alone infect dozens - and soon hundreds - of young men.
The origins of the epidemic are now becoming clearer. Genetic analysis suggests that although the monkeypox virus spreads rapidly in the open air, it has been circulating silently among humans for years.
Those responsible for the Health have previously identified two versions of monkeypox among American patients, suggesting at least two distinct chains of transmission. Researchers from several countries have found cases with no known source of infection, indicating undetected community spread. And a research team argued last month that monkeypox had already crossed a threshold for sustained person-to-person transmission.
Genetic information available so far indicated that at some point in the past few years, the virus has spread better between people, said Trevor Bedford, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
'Genomic models would suggest this happened around 2018,' Dr Bedford said.
If the virus has adapted to include people as hosts, outbreaks of monkeypox could become more frequent and harder to contain. This carries the risk that monkeypox could spread from infected people to animals – most likely rodents – in countries outside of Africa, which has been battling the problem for decades. The virus can persist in infected animals, sporadically triggering new infections in humans.
“We can also transmit it to animals which can spread the disease in wildlife and to humans. said Sagan Friant, an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University who has studied human-animal interactions in Nigeria for about 15 years.
The longer it takes the longer it takes to contain the virus, the higher the chance it will find a new, permanent home in people or animals, Dr. Friant said. States and the District of Columbia. The global toll has topped 3,400 confirmed cases and another 3,500 cases are being assessed, tripling the number from two weeks ago.
In Africa, eight countries have reported more than 1,500 suspected cases and 72 deaths as of June 10, most of them in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Monkeypox is a large double-stranded DNA virus , about seven times as large as the coronavirus. DNA-based viruses can correct their own mistakes when they replicate their genetic material. They may only collect one or two mutations per year compared to 20 to 30 mutations for an RNA virus like the coronavirus.
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