BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1618022

This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Approaches for the Early Detection and Rapid Response to Biothreat and Emerging Infectious AgentsView all articles

Genomic and Phenotypic Insights into the First Imported Monkeypox Virus Clade Ia isolate in China, 2025

Provisionally accepted
Chunhong YinChunhong Yin1*Yan LiYan Li1Qing DuanQing Duan1Dali XuDali Xu1Chengyunxiao LiChengyunxiao Li2Ti LiuTi Liu1Shujun DingShujun Ding1Zhe ZhangZhe Zhang3Aihua ZhangAihua Zhang3Lianchen FuLianchen Fu3Zengqiang KouZengqiang Kou1
  • 1Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong, China
  • 2Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, Shandong Province, China
  • 3Tai'An Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Tai'An, China

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The 2022 multi-country outbreak of monkeypox virus (MPXV) sparked global health concerns, as cases emerged increasingly outside traditionally endemic regions. This outbreak, spanning 2022-2023, was primarily driven by the clade IIb strain.Subsequently, a surge of MPXV cases caused by clades Ia and Ib in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African countries has garnered heightened attention.Notably, clade Ib has recently been imported into China. In this study, we report the first identification and genetic characterization of a novel imported MPXV strain in China, from a patient returning from an endemic area. Whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis confirmed its close relationship to MPXV clade Ia, which has not been previously reported in China. The strain was successfully isolated using Vero-E6 cell inoculation. Compared with the reference MPXV clade I strain, the imported Ia strain exhibited substantial genomic divergence, with 67 mutations identified. Among them, 28 non-synonymous mutations were found in genes associated with host interaction and viral pathogenesis. This study highlights the critical role of genomic surveillance and rapid molecular diagnostics in monitoring MPXV transmission and evolution. The successful isolation of a clade Ia strain provides a valuable resource for future research on its pathogenicity and for the development of targeted therapeutics.

Keywords: Monkeypox virus, Clade Ia, Genomic characteristics, phylogeny, Virus Isolation

Received: 25 Apr 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Yin, Li, Duan, Xu, Li, Liu, Ding, Zhang, Zhang, Fu and Kou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Chunhong Yin, Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shandong, China

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