Researchers from Portugal, Germany, Belgium and the United States sequenced samples of confirmed cases and shared their findings online, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The similarity between the viral genome of 10 cases detected in Portugal and that of one case in the United States suggests that there may be a source of the epidemic, researchers at the Portuguese National Institute of Health said in an article on the virological research sharing forum. Philippe selhorst, a medical virologist at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, said that gene sequencing showed that a case recently returned from a trip to Lisbon was genetically linked to the virus gene of the Portuguese case.
Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said more gene sequences were needed to obtain complete results.
"I compare this to switching to a new series, but we don't know which episode we've seen," he said. "It seems that we've missed some origin stories."
Confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox have now appeared in 18 countries, bringing the total to 260, according to BNO news, the Dutch media, on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the health department in Madrid, Spain, said that 51 cases (all male) had been confirmed in the city. They either went to the sauna in Madrid, participated in the gay pride festival held in Grand Canary Island, or attended private gatherings in the city.
The spokesman said that although activities in the sauna and grand Canary Island may contribute to the spread of the virus, the authorities believe that monkeypox was brought to Spain by tourists from the UK. According to the spokesman, visitors from Britain attended some private gatherings in Madrid.
The WHO website shows that monkeypox virus may be similar to some sexually transmitted diseases, such as herpes and syphilis, which can explain why most cases are detected in sexual health clinics. At present, most monkeypox cases are found in men who have sex with men, but the possibility of community transmission is not ruled out. In addition to sexual behavior, monkeypox virus may be infected through oral ulcers, contact with patients' body fluids, infected clothes, etc.
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