Comparison of Monkeypox virus genomes from the 2017 Nigeria outbreak and the 2022 outbreak.

Aims: The current Monkeypox virus (MPX) outbreak is not only the largest known outbreak to date caused by a strain belonging to the West-African clade, but also results in remarkably different clinical and epidemiological features compared to previous outbreaks of this virus. Here, we consider the possibility that mutations in the viral genome may be responsible for its changed characteristics.

Methods And Results: Six genome sequences of isolates from the current outbreak were compared to five genomes of isolates from the 2017 outbreak in Nigeria and to two historic genomes, all belonging to the West-African clade. We report differences that are consistently present in the 2022 isolates but not in the others. Although some variation in repeat units was observed, only two were consistently found in the 2022 genomes only, and these were located in intergenic regions. A total of 55 single nucleotide polymorphisms were consistently present in the 2022 isolates compared to the 2017 isolates. Of these, 25 caused an amino acid substitution in a predicted protein.

Conclusions: The nature of the substitution and the annotation of the affected protein identified potential candidates that might affect the virulence of the virus. These included the viral DNA helicase and transcription factors.

Significance: This bioinformatic analysis provides guidance for wet-lab research to identify changed properties of the MPX.