Molecular and phylogenetic characterization of the monkeypox outbreak in the South of Spain

Abstract

Until the May 2022 Monkeypox outbreak, which spread rapidly to many non-endemic countries, the virus was considered a viral zoonosis limited to some African countries. The Andalusian circuit of genomic surveillance was rapidly applied to characterize the Monkeypox outbreak in the South of Spain. Whole genome sequencing was used to obtain the genomic profiles of samples collected across the south of Spain, representative of all the provinces of Andalusia. Phylogenetic analysis was used to study the relationship of the isolates and the available sequences of the 2022 outbreak. Whole genome sequencing of a total of 160 monkeypox viruses from the different provinces that reported cases were obtained. Interestingly, we report the sequences of monkeypox viruses obtained from two patients who died. While one of the isolates bore no noteworthy mutations that explain a potential heightened virulence, in another patient the second consecutive genome sequence, performed after the administration of tecovirimat, uncovered a mutation within the A0A7H0DN30 gene, known to be a prime target for tecovirimat in its Vaccinia counterpart. In general, a low number of mutations were observed in the sequences reported, which were very similar to the reference of the 2022 outbreak (OX044336), as expected from a DNA virus. The samples likely correspond to several introductions of the circulating monkeypox viruses from the last outbreak. The virus sequenced from one of the two patients that died presented a mutation in a gene that bears potential connections to drug resistance. This mutation was absent in the initial sequencing prior to treatment.