猴痘病毒研究进展

Research progress on mpox virus

猴痘是由正痘病毒属猴痘病毒引起的一种人畜共患疾病。近年来,猴痘暴发的地理范围有所扩大,频次有所增加。从流行病学特征来看,此轮2022年7月暴发的猴痘疫情患者多为男男同性性行为人群,暴发地点集中于欧美地区;从致病病毒来看,患者携带的猴痘病毒基因组序列多数发生了点突变,提示猴痘病毒可能产生了进化优势。致病病毒的变异对疾病识别提出了新的挑战,由人工智能技术辅助的新兴诊断方法一定程度上提高了诊疗效率。虽然此轮猴痘疫情得到了有效控制,但部分国家猴痘流行监管较弱,因此各国应加强“同一健康”思想,加强对猴痘的综合防治。

Mpox is a zoonotic disease caused by the mpox virus, an orthopoxvirus genus member. In recent years, the geographic range of mpox outbreaks has expanded. The mpox epidemic that broke out in July 2022 showed different characteristics compared with previous occurrences. From the perspective of epidemiology, the majority of patients in this epidemic were men who have sex with men, and the outbreak sites were centered in the United States as well as Europe. In terms of the pathogenic viruses, most of the genomic sequences of mpox viruses carried by patients had point mutations, suggesting that the mpox viruses may have developed an evolutionary advantage. The variation of pathogenic viruses poses new challenges to disease identification, and the emerging diagnostic methods assisted by artificial intelligence technology have improved the diagnosis and treatment efficiency to a certain extent. Although this round mpox epidemic has been effectively controlled, there are still some countries where mpox is active, and the regulation is weak. Therefore, countries should strengthen the "One Health" mentality and enhance the integrated prevention and treatment of mpox.