Genome sequencing reports from two monkeypox patients in Kerala suggests they were infected with the A.2 strain of the virus, different from the one causing the monkeypox outbreaks in European countries.
Key highlights
- Genome sequences of the first two imported cases of monkeypox detected in Kerala clearly show that they belong to a small cluster — A2 — that was very different from the one that was first detected in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2022 and has since spread to more than 75 countries.
- The genomes from the major outbreak of monkeypox cases in Europe and the rest of the world belong to the B1 lineage.
- The genomes of the virus collected from the first two cases in Kerala were sequenced by ICMR’s nodal lab, National Institute of Virology, Pune and deposited without delay in the global database GISAID.
- The small cluster predominantly seen in the U.S., Thailand and now in India is the A2 cluster.
What is GISAID?
- The GISAID platform was launched on the occasion of the Sixty-first World Health Assembly in May 2008.
- Created as an alternative to the public domain sharing model, GISAID’s sharing mechanism took into account the concerns of Member States by providing a publicly accessible database designed by scientist for scientist, to improve the sharing of influenza data.
