Molecular and phylogenetic characterization of the monkeypox outbreak in Andalusia, Spain

In May 2022, an unexpectedly large monkeypox virus clade B.1 (MPXV) outbreak affecting several non-endemic countries was reported. More than 14.000 cases have been reported in more than 60 countries by the end of July. In this context, genomic monitoring of the circulating clade is important from the epidemiological point of view. In addition to the epidemiological relevance, that assigns clearly the Andalusian sequences to the circulating clade, whole-genome virus sequencing is very important for monitoring polymorphisms, as well as for detecting gene losses based on possible intragenic frameshifts or premature stop codons that could appear locally.