A new strain of monkeypox appears! Mutation or evolution is still unknown!

Bad news from the UK - they have discovered a brand new strain of monkeypox virus. Everything about the characteristics, effects, infectivity, severity and mortality of this strain is still unknown.

A British national has been diagnosed with monkeypox after returning to the UK after a recent trip to West Africa, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced this morning. The patient has been taken to the High Risk Infectious Diseases (HCID) unit at Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

The Health Bureau found that the strain of infection was completely different from the two mainstream strains currently in outbreaks in Europe and the United States. The agency's health officials said that as of September 1, no other cases of infection with the strain had been detected in the UK, and close contacts of the patient were being sought.

However, until specific laboratory studies are reported, we will not know where this new strain of virus came from - is it mutation or evolution? Or maybe it's been lurking long ago but never found out? Is it from the same lineage as the other two strains?

This mysterious new strain instantly aroused the concern of experts.

You know, the monkeypox epidemics that are now plaguing countries other than Africa are spread from two strains from West Africa. The two strains are relatively mild, and their mortality rate is closer to that of the new crown, about 1%. Most people have mild symptoms and recover within a few weeks.

However, there are dozens of monkeypox strains that have erupted since the last century, especially the strains that have spread in Central Africa. All of them are ferocious, causing as many as 10% of the patients to die, and the child mortality rate has soared to 18%.

Now we are seeing 50,000 global infections and 16 deaths. This data does not seem so scary, which is also due to the mild strain of the virus.

But the crux of the question is - will the monkeypox virus mutate and evolve like the covid-19?

At first, experts believed it would not.

As U.S. Chief Health Officer Anthony Fauci, who is about to retire, put it: "Don't make assumptions about a global outbreak of monkeypox, but compare the situation to AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases."

That is to say, he believes that monkeypox is more like a venereal disease, and its transmission ability is not so high, rather than worrying that monkeypox will be spread on a large scale like the covid-19, and a global outbreak.

At the same time, Dr. Wu Zunyou, a top domestic expert, also warned that monkeypox would spread to the world in an epidemic mode similar to AIDS.

So, if the monkeypox virus mutated, would it still spread like an STD? Will it become more like the new crown?

At present, there are also some related studies in major academic journals. For example, a study published in Nature by the National Institute of Health in Lisbon, Portugal stated: “There is evidence that monkeypox virus continues to evolve and adapt during human-to-human transmission faster than thought. It may be the reason for the significant increase in its transmission capacity."

why? Experts once believed that the mainstream strains of our 2022 European and American monkeypox outbreaks are descendants of the 2017 Nigerian outbreak. At the rate of mutation of monkeypox viruses that experts have observed in the past, the difference between predecessors and offspring over five years will not exceed 5 to 10 additional mutations.

But their results were startling—the two versions of the virus differed by about 50 mutations. You can understand it in layman's terms as the evolution of monkeypox virus is 5-10 times faster than estimated.

That's why, now, a whole new strain of monkeypox has popped up in the UK.

Although we now know very little about this new strain, it is clear that the population of monkeypox infected people is not just a pure gay group, and perhaps the transmission ability has really evolved.

In the United States, more than 31 children have been infected with monkeypox, and 3 of them are children under the age of 4. The severe rate and mortality rate are higher!

The same is true in Canada. Although the World Health Organization said that overall monkeypox infections in Canada are on the decline, which is gratifying to the WHO, more children and adolescents have been infected in many regions.

For example, the Montreal Ministry of Health also confirmed a case of infection in a child under the age of 4 two days ago, which is also the first case of infection in a young child in Canada (the minimum age of the infected person was 9 years old).

Not only is monkeypox a potential threat to teens and children, it also poses an increased risk to middle-aged and older adults who are more prone to heart problems.

Monkeypox may lead to heart problems, such as acute myocarditis, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The speculation comes from an American male case. The 31-year-old patient went home to isolate and take medicine after being diagnosed with monkeypox. The main symptoms recorded by the doctor at the time were: multiple skin lesions and swelling on the face, hands, and genitals, muscle aches, fever, and discomfort.

Results Three days after returning home, the patient suddenly woke up from sleep because of chest tightness and pain in the left upper arm. The emergency diagnosis was acute myocarditis.

Experts read the literature and learned that a smallpox virus similar to monkeypox can cause heart problems, so they speculate that monkeypox can also cause a series of heart problems - but this needs to be confirmed in more cases.

But we all need to be vigilant. Monkeypox is really not just pustules and rashes. Its contagiousness, severity of symptoms, and more characteristics still need to be studied. Before determining its seriousness, do not let down your guard and do Good epidemic prevention work.

(1) YJC70115NW-50T. CE Certified Monkeypox Virus Real Time PCR Kit

The Bioperfectus Monkeypox Virus Real Time PCR Kit is based on real-time PCR technology, for the detection of DNA from the Monkeypox virus. Specimens can be obtained from human serum, lesion exudate samples and scab. BSL-2 facilities with standard BSL-2 work practices may be used for the test of the Monkeypox virus.

(2) VJC70115NW-50T. For Veterinary detection.

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