Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Lisbon, Portugal.
Epidemiology and Statistics Division, Directorate-General of Health, Lisbon, Portugal.
Nat Med. 2023 Oct;29(10):2509-2517. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02542-x. Epub 2023 Sep 11.
Pathogen genome sequencing during epidemics enhances our ability to identify and understand suspected clusters and investigate their relationships. Here, we combine genomic and epidemiological data of the 2022 mpox outbreak to better understand early viral spread, diversification and transmission dynamics. By sequencing 52% of the confirmed cases in Portugal, we identified the mpox virus sublineages with the highest impact on case numbers and fitted them into a global context, finding evidence that several international sublineages probably emerged or spread early in Portugal. We estimated a 62% infection reporting rate and that 1.3% of the population of men who have sex with men in Portugal were infected. We infer the critical role played by sexual networks and superspreader gatherings, such as sauna attendance, in the dissemination of mpox virus. Overall, our findings highlight genomic epidemiology as a tool for the real-time monitoring and control of mpox epidemics, and can guide future vaccine policy in a highly susceptible population.
在疫情期间进行病原体基因组测序可以增强我们识别和了解疑似集群并调查其关系的能力。在这里，我们结合了葡萄牙 2022 年猴痘疫情的基因组和流行病学数据，以更好地了解早期病毒传播、多样化和传播动态。通过对葡萄牙确诊病例的 52%进行测序，我们确定了对病例数量影响最大的猴痘病毒亚谱系，并将其置于全球背景下，发现有证据表明，几个国际亚谱系可能在葡萄牙早期出现或传播。我们估计感染报告率为 62%，葡萄牙男男性行为人群中有 1.3%的人感染。我们推断，性网络和超级传播者聚会（如桑拿聚会）在猴痘病毒传播中发挥了关键作用。总的来说，我们的研究结果强调了基因组流行病学作为实时监测和控制猴痘疫情的工具的重要性，并可以为高度易感人群的未来疫苗政策提供指导。
