The monkeypox virus mutated at a much faster rate than normally expected and probably underwent a period of “accelerated evolution,” a new study suggests.
The virus that has infected more than 3500 people in 48 countries after its discovery outside Africa in May, it could be more infectious due to dozens of new mutations. In total, the virus carries 50 new mutations that were not observed in previous strains detected from 2018 to 2019, according to a new study published June 24 in the journal Natural medicine (opens in a new tab). Scientists usually do not expect viruses similar to monkeypox to get more than one or two mutations each year, the study authors note.
Monkeypox is a rare disease that virologists say can naturally circulate in monkeys and rodents. Orthopoxvirus comes from the same family and genus as smallpox virus, which causes smallpox and does not usually spread far beyond West and Central Africa, where it is endemic. This year, however, the first widespread outbreak spread beyond Africa, which surprised scientists and prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider whether to classify the outbreak as global health emergency.
The strains of the monkeypox virus may be sorted into two logs or genera known as logs in West Africa and the Congo Basin, according to STAT. Viruses in each class carry different mortality rates; the West African fire has approximately 1% mortality, while the fire in the Congo Basin kills approximately 10% of those infected. The ongoing outbreak appears to have been caused by a West African fire, STAT reported.
Connected: Outbreaks of monkeypox: Here’s everything you need to know
Like a big double chain DNA virus, monkeypox is much more able to correct replication errors than RNA virus such as HIV, which means that the current strain of monkeypox really should have accumulated only a few mutations since it first began circulating in 2018. But after collecting DNA from 15 virus samples from monkeypox and Reconstructing their genetic information, the researchers found that the true rate of mutations was six to 12 times higher than they expected.
The massive jump in the rate of mutation in the monkey virus “is much more than one would expect, given previous estimates of the degree of substitution of Orthopoxviruses,” the researchers wrote in the article. “Our data reveal additional evidence for ongoing viral evolution and potential human adaptation.”
Historically, monkeypox has been transmitted from person to person through close skin contact with exposed skin lesions, body fluids, contaminated material, or airborne droplets coughed up in the air. But the unprecedented rate of new infections may suggest that something may have changed about the way the virus infects its hosts – and new mutations may be a possible cause.
Many of the mutations identified by the researchers also carry telling signs that they may have been caused by the virus coming into contact with humans. immune system, in particular a family of enzymes that fight viruses called APOBEC3. These enzymes attack viruses, forcing them to make mistakes when copying their genetic code, an action that usually causes the virus to break down. However, sometimes the virus survives the encounter and simply captures a few mutations in its genetic code, according to STAT. It is possible that these types of battles have happened many times and caused the virus to take many mutations in a short period of time, the researchers theorize.
The mutation rate of the virus increased in 2018 and there are several explanations for why it did so. It is possible for the virus to circulate among humans at low levels since then, attracting many new mutations through its battles with enzymes. Alternatively, the virus may have spread to animals in non-endemic countries without us noticing for a long time, and then suddenly returned to humans this year.
Or it is possible that after an outbreak of monkeypox struck Nigeria in 2017, the virus spread mainly to African countries – growing rapidly as it moved between smaller communities before reviving in non-endemic countries this year.
Despite its name, monkeypox is most commonly transmitted to humans by rodents, of which African wire squirrels, striped mice, rats with giant sacs and porcupines are the species thought to be the main reservoirs of the disease. according to the Centers for Disease and Prevention.
The last time monkeypox was so prevalent in the United States was in 2003, when 71 people became infected with West African logs after a shipment of infected Gambian rats imported to Texas from Ghana transmitted the disease to local prairie dogs.
Direct treatment for monkeypox has not yet been tested, but doctors give patients antiviral drugs and antibodies taken from people immunized with the smallpox vaccine. Transmission is also reduced if people have a vaccine against monkeypox or smallpox, which allows scientists to prevent further infections by inoculating close contacts in the original case – a strategy known as “ring vaccination” that led to the eradication of smallpox. measles in 1980
Originally published in Live Science.
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