The Rise of Mpox in a Post-Smallpox World.

Reports of mpox are rising in Africa where the disease is endemic and in new countries where the disease has not been previously seen. The 2022 global outbreak of clade II mpox and an ongoing outbreak of the more lethal clade I mpox highlight the pandemic potential for monkeypox virus. Waning population immunity after the cessation of routine immunization for smallpox plays a key role in the changing epidemiologic patterns of mpox.

Bioluminescence Imaging to Study Recombinant Orthopoxvirus Infection in Animal Models.

Bioluminescent images of viral replication in live animals (in vivo) reveal disease dynamics and effects of medical countermeasures over time. After selecting an appropriate orthopoxvirus animal model for the study, a recombinant virus with the firefly luciferase gene inserted in the genome is used to infect the animals. On the day of bioluminescent imaging, the substrate, D-luciferin, is prepared; animals are sedated and injected with the substrate and IVIS imager is utilized; various bioluminescent images are acquired; then animals recover and are able to continue in the study.

Identification of raccoon rabies virus variant in a stray kitten: the role of veterinary practitioners in detection and reporting of a non-native zoonotic pathogen-Nebraska, 2023.

Rabies is a fatal encephalitic disease affecting all mammals. This report describes identification of raccoon rabies virus variant isolated from a stray kitten in an urban Midwestern city that is nonendemic for this virus variant. The kitten originally presented with nonspecific neurologic abnormalities.

Fatal borealpox in an immunosuppressed patient treated with antivirals and vaccinia immunoglobulin - Alaska, 2023.

Background: Borealpox virus (BRPV, formerly known as Alaskapox virus) is a zoonotic member of the Orthopoxvirus genus first identified in a person in 2015. In the six patients with infection previously observed BRPV involved mild, self-limiting illness. We report the first fatal BRPV infection in an immunosuppressed patient.

Successful Collaborations that Resulted in Increased U.S. Diagnostic Testing During the 2022 Mpox Outbreak.

Context: The first case of mpox was detected in the United States in a Laboratory Response Network (LRN) laboratory at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on May 17, 2022. Through previous years of smallpox preparedness efforts by the United States government, testing capacity in LRN laboratories across the United States utilizing the FDA-cleared Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Non-variola orthopoxvirus (NVO) test was approximately 6000 tests weekly across the nation prior to the mpox outbreak. By early June 2022, the LRN laboratories had capacity to perform up to 8000 tests per week.