Barry Atkinson1, Christopher Burton2, Thomas Pottage1, Katy‐Anne Thompson1, Didier Ngabo1, Ant Crook1, James Pitman2, Sian Summers2, Kuiama Lewandowski1, Jenna Furneaux3, Katherine Davies1, Timothy Brooks4,3, Allan Bennett1, Kevin S. Richards2,5
1Research and Evaluation, UK Health Security Agency, Porton Down, Salisbury, UK
2High Containment Microbiology UK Health Security Agency, Porton Down Salisbury UK
3Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory UK Health Security Agency, Porton Down Salisbury UK
4National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, Liverpool, UK
5Oxford Brookes University, Headington Campus, Oxford, UK
Tóm tắt
AbstractAn imported case of monkeypox was diagnosed in December 2019 in a traveller returning from Nigeria to the UK. Subsequently, environmental sampling was performed at two adjoining single‐room residences occupied by the patient and their sibling. Monkeypox virus DNA was identified in multiple locations throughout both properties, and monkeypox virus was isolated from several samples 3 days after the patient was last in these locations. Positive samples were identified following the use of both vacuum and surface sampling techniques; these methodologies allowed for environmental analysis of potentially contaminated porous and non‐porous surfaces via real‐time quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR analysis in addition to viral isolation to confirm the presence of infection‐competent virus. This report confirms the potential for infection‐competent monkeypox virus to be recovered in environmental settings associated with known positive cases and the necessity for rapid environmental assessment to reduce potential exposure to close contacts and the general public. The methods adopted in this investigation may be used for future confirmed cases of monkeypox in order to establish levels of contamination, confirm the presence of infection‐competent material and to identify locations requiring additional cleaning.
