A draft of the first genome sequence of Monkeypox virus associated with the multi-country outbreak in May 2022 from the Canary Islands, Spain.

Abstract

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is a zoonotic Orthopoxvirus (OPV) (family Poxviridae) [1,2], endemic to West and Central Africa [3,4]. MPXV has been described in humans in Central and Western Africa (occurring mainly in tropical forest areas of Central Africa), as well as in other parts of the world [5-10]. Around the 13 May 2022, MPXV cases were reported in several countries and WHO declared communitary transmission of the virus [11]. Most reported cases so far have been presented through sexual health or other health services and have involved mainly men who have sex with men [12,13]. By early June 2022, 129 viral genomes had been deposited at GISAID with 46 SNPs shared by all these sequences and differing from the viral genome sequences from the 2018-2019 MPXV outbreak [14]. Preliminary data from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays indicate that these MPXV strains detected in Europe and other non-endemic areas belong to the West African clade [15].

In Europe, several cases of MPXV infection have been associated with outbreaks in the Canary Islands and Spain [15]. A few sequences of the cases in Spain have been reported [16]. A total of 15 positive cases have been confirmed in the Canary Islands so far (10 more cases are under investigation, including 5 suspects and 5 probable cases as of June 13 2022) [17]. Here we describe the draft sequences of the first MPVX viral genome isolated in the Canary Islands the 31 May 2022 from a male adult patient with one week-onset mild symptoms (fever, odynophagia) and presenting at ER but not necessitating hospital admission.