The IGTP and the Clinical Laboratory North Metropolitan Area are the first to publish the complete sequence of a sample of monkey pox virus

The IGTP and the Microbiology Service of the Clinical Laboratory of the North Metropolitan Area led by the researcher Elisa Martró have been the first to carry out the complete sequencing of a sample of monkey pox virus in Spain. This is a milestone in itself, but will also be fundamental for epidemiological surveillance of the infection and the study of future outbreaks as it provides a description of the genetic material of the virus.

The obtain the result the team used deep sequencing, which allows for results to be obtained within 48-72 hours. In this case, it was sufficient to one single quality sample from a suspected case.

The preliminary results of this sequencing reveal that the strain of the virus currently circulating in Europe is not the most aggressive form, a characteristic of the virus in African countries, where it is more common.