Monkeypox outbreak: a novel threat after COVID-19?

Dear Editor,Monkeypox is a zoonosis caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV)infection first reported in Central and West Africa[1]. The first outbreak of monkeypox outside of Africa was reported in2003[2].Afterthat,Israel,theUnitedKingdom(UK),Singapore, and other countries have reported monkeypox cases among travelers back from Nigeria since 2018[3].

Introduction of monkeypox virus in Benin,2022

Dear Editor,Monkeypox is an infectious disease that is endemic in a dozen of African countries.Some imported cases have been also reported outside of Africa in the past[1].Since early May 2022,monkeypox infections including human-to-human transmission,were reported in a multi-country outbreak in non-endemic countries and declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern(PHEIC)by the World Health Organization(WHO)in July 2022[2].As of 20 September 2022,a total of at least 62,798 human cases of monkeypox with 20 deaths have been confirmed in 115 countries in five WHO regions[3].

Decoding the evolution and transmissions of the novel pneumonia coronavirus(SARS-CoV-2/HCoV-19)using whole genomic data

The outbreak of COVID-19 started in mid-December2019 in Wuhan, China. Up to 29 February 2020,SARS-CoV-2(HCoV-19/2019-nCoV) had infected more than 85 000 people in the world. In this study,we used 93 complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2 from the GISAID EpiFlu TM database to investigate the evolution and human-to-human transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 in the first two months of the outbreak.We constructed haplotypes of the SARS-CoV-2 genomes, performed phylogenomic analyses and estimated the potential population size changes of the virus. The date of population expansion was calculated based on the expansion parameter tau(τ)using the formula t=τ/2 u. A total of 120 substitution sites with 119 codons, including 79 non-synonymous and 40 synonymous substitutions, were found in eight coding-regions in the SARS-CoV-2 genomes.Forty non-synonymous substitutions are potentially associated with virus adaptation. No combinations were detected. The 58 haplotypes(31 found in samples from China and 31 from outside China)were identified in 93 viral genomes under study and could be classified into five groups. By applying the reported bat coronavirus genome(bat-RaTG13-CoV)as the outgroup, we found that haplotypes H13 and H38 might be considered as ancestral haplotypes,and later H1 was derived from the intermediate haplotype H3. The population size of the SARS-CoV-2 was estimated to have undergone a recent expansion on 06 January 2020, and an early expansion on 08 December 2019. Furthermore,phyloepidemiologic approaches have recovered specific directions of human-to-human transmissions and the potential sources for international infected cases.

On Coexistence of Vehicular Overlay Network and H2H Terminals on PRACH in LTE

Vehicular ad hoc networks （VANETs） that use the IEEE 802.11p communication standard face a number of challenges, not least when it comes to safety messages on the VANET control channel （CCH） where short delay times and reliable delivery are of pri- mary importance. In this paper we propose a vehicular machine-to-machine （VM2M） overlay network that uses Long Term Evolu- tion （LTE） physical random access channel （PRACH） to emulate VANET CCH. The overlay network uses dedicated preambles to separate vehicular traffic from regular LTE traffic and a cartier sense multiple access with collision avoidance （CSMA-CA） layer similar to the one used in IEEE 802.15.4 to avoid the four step handshake and the overhead it incurs. The performance of the pro- posed overlay is evaluated under a wide range of PRACH parameters which conform to the scenarios with high vehicle velocities and large distances between roadside units （RSUs） that may be encountered in rural areas and on highways.

Transmission and mortality risk assessment of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in China:results from 11-years’study

Background: The transmission and fatal risk of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), an emerging infectious disease first discovered in China in 2009, still needed further quantification. This research aimed to analyze the SFTS clusters and assess the transmission and mortality risk for SFTS.Methods: Both epidemiological investigation and case reports regarding SFTS clusters in China during 2011-2021 were obtained from the Public Health Emergency Information Management System of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Information System. The transmission risk was evaluated by using the secondary attack rate (SAR) and relative risk (RR). Mortality risk factors were analyzed using a logistic regression model.Results: There were 35 SFTS clusters during 2011-2021 involving 118 patients with a fatality rate of 22.0%. The number of clusters annually increased seasonally from April to September. The clusters mainly occurred in Anhui (16 clusters) and Shandong provinces (8 clusters). The SAR through contact with blood or bloody fluids was much higher than that through contact with non-bloody fluids (50.6% vs 3.0%;χ^(2) = 210.97,P < 0.05), with anRR of 16.61 [95% confidence interval (CI): 10.23-26.97]. There was a statistically significant difference in the SAR between exposure to the blood of a deceased person during burial preparation and exposure to the living patients’ blood (66.7% vs 34.5%;χ^(2)= 6.40,P < 0.05), with anRR of 1.93 (95%CI: 1.11-3.37). The mortality risk factors were a long interval from onset to diagnosis [odds ratio (OR)= 1.385), 95%CI: 1.083-1.772,P= 0.009) and advanced age (OR: 1.095, 95%CI: 1.031-1.163,P= 0.01).Conclusions: The SFTS clusters showed a high mortality rate and resulted in a high SAR. Contact with a bleeding corpse was associated with a higher infection risk, compared with contacting the blood from living patients. It is important to promote early detection and appropriate case management of patients with SFTS, as well as improved handling of their corpses, to prevent further transmission and mortality.

Assessing the extent of community spread caused by mink-derived SARS-CoV-2 variants

SARS-CoV-2 has recently been found to have spread from humans to minks and then to have transmitted back to humans.However,it is unknown to what extent the human-to-human transmission caused by the variant has reached.Here,we used publicly available SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences from both humans and minks collected in Denmark and the Netherlands,and combined phylogenetic analysis with Bayesian inference under an epidemiological model,to trace the possibility of person-to-person transmission.The results showed that at least 12.5%of all people being infected with dominated minkderived SARS-CoV-2 variants in Denmark and the Netherlands were caused by human-to-human transmission,indicating that this“backto-human”SARS-CoV-2 variant has already caused human-to-human transmission.Our study also indicated the need for monitoring this mink-derived and other animal source“back-to-human”SARS-CoV-2 in future and that prevention and control measures should be tailored to avoid large-scale community transmission caused by the virus jumping between animals and humans.

Human Atypical Monkeypox:Early Warning for Global Outbreak?

Monkeypox is usually considered as a zoonosis caused bymonkeypox viruswith potential threat to public health in the post-smallpox era.The recent outbreak ofmonkeypox began inMay 7,2022,and has been found in many countries out of Africa.TheWorldHealth Organization declared that this endemic is an“atypical”phenomenon with definite human-to-human transmission.To understand the situation more clearly,this review briefly summarizes the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of the disease and highlights the clinical management and preventive strategies.