Monkeypox update: ICMR-NIV finds strain A.2 in 2 travellers returning to UAE

According to the study, both cases were infected with monkeypox virus strain A.2, which is related to the hMPXV-1A clade 3 lineage.

“Complete genome sequences obtained from skin lesions in cases 1 and 2 were 99.91% and 99.96% similar to the MPXV_USA_2022_FL001 West African clade, respectively,” the ICMR-NIV study wrote.

“Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these two cases were infected with monkeypox virus strain A.2, which belongs to the hMPXV-1A lineage of clade 3,” it added.

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Moving on to the details, the study also showed that a 35-year-old man and a 31-year-old man from the UAE — who tested positive for monkeypox — showed no signs of sexual contact.

In the first case, the person had a history of similar lesions in his friend and had been in contact with a suspected case of monkeypox.

“Case 1, a 35-year-old male, UAE resident, presented with low-grade fever and myalgias on 5 July 2022. The next day, he developed multiple vesicular rashes on his mouth and lips, followed by a single lesions. Reproductive organs. The lesions were umbilical and 0.5 to 0.8 cm in size,” the study explained.

And for the second case, the study explained, the individual was from Dubai, UAE, traveled to his home state of Kerala on July 13, 2022, and tested positive for monkeypox.

“A 31-year-old man from Dubai, UAE presented with dysuria and genital swelling on July 8, 2022. The next day, he developed fever, chills, myalgia, back pain and headache,” the study said.

After presentation, he developed multiple vesicular rashes on his genitals and hands on July 10, 2022. Later on July 15, 2022, it spread to the face, back, neck, and forearms, along with swollen lymph nodes in the neck. “He was asymptomatic and denied any sexual or physical contact with a suspected or confirmed case of MPXV,” the study added.

Samples from these two cases were collected from multiple sites—lesion fluid, top of the lesion, and bottom of the lesion—on day 9 after onset, on July 13, 2022, and July 16, 2022, respectively. They mentioned the MPXV diagnosis of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases, ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune, India.

With ANI input.

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