Intra- and interhost genomic diversity of monkeypox virus

Mona L Taouk; Eike Steinig; George Taiaroa; Ivana Savic; Thomas Tran; Nasra Higgins; Stephanie Tran; Alvin Lee; Maxwell Braddick; Michael A Moso; Eric P F Chow; Christopher K Fairley; Janet Towns; Marcus Y Chen; Leon Caly; Chuan K Lim; Deborah A Williamson

doi:10.1002/jmv.29029

Intra- and interhost genomic diversity of monkeypox virus

J Med Virol. 2023 Aug;95(8):e29029. doi: 10.1002/jmv.29029.

Authors

Mona L Taouk^{1

2}, Eike Steinig^{1

2}, George Taiaroa^{1

2}, Ivana Savic², Thomas Tran², Nasra Higgins³, Stephanie Tran³, Alvin Lee³, Maxwell Braddick³, Michael A Moso^{1

2}, Eric P F Chow^{4

5

6}, Christopher K Fairley^{4

5}, Janet Towns⁴, Marcus Y Chen⁴, Leon Caly^{1

2}, Chuan K Lim^{1

2}, Deborah A Williamson^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
² Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, The Royal Melbourne Hospital at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
³ Victorian Department of Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Abstract

The impact and frequency of infectious disease outbreaks demonstrate the need for timely genomic surveillance to inform public health responses. In the largest known outbreak of mpox, genomic surveillance efforts have primarily focused on high-incidence nations in Europe and the Americas, with a paucity of data from South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. Here we analyzed 102 monkeypox virus (MPXV) genomes sampled from 56 individuals in Melbourne, Australia. All genomes fell within the 2022 MPXV outbreak lineage (B.1), with likely onward local transmission detected. We observed within-host diversity and instances of co-infection, and highlight further examples of structural variation and apolipoprotein B editing complex-driven micro-evolution in the current MPXV outbreak. Updating our understanding of MPXV emergence and diversification will inform public health measures and enable monitoring of the virus' evolutionary trajectory throughout the mpox outbreak.

Keywords: monkeypox virus; mpox; whole genome sequencing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Australia / epidemiology
Disease Outbreaks
Genomics
Humans
Monkeypox virus* / genetics
Mpox (monkeypox)* / epidemiology