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. 2022 Sep;27(36):2200675.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.36.2200675.

Isolation of viable monkeypox virus from anal and urethral swabs, Italy, May to July 2022

Davide Moschese  1 , Giacomo Pozza  2 , Davide Mileto  3 , Andrea Giacomelli  2 , Miriam Cutrera  3 , Maria Vittoria Cossu  1 , Maddalena Matone  1 , Martina Beltrami  2 , Federica Salari  3 , Spinello Antinori  4 , Alessandra Lombardi  3 , Giuliano Rizzardini  1
Affiliations

Isolation of viable monkeypox virus from anal and urethral swabs, Italy, May to July 2022

Davide Moschese et al. Euro Surveill. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Anal and urethral samples from confirmed cases of monkeypox were screened for monkeypox virus (MPXV) by real-time PCR. Isolation of the virus was subsequently attempted in cell culture. Actively-replicating virus was demonstrated in 13 of 18 and 11 of 15 PCR-positive anal and urethral swabs, respectively, collected within 7 days from symptoms onset. Two asymptomatic secondary cases had detectable MPXV genetic material in urethral secretion and for one, MPXV was successfully isolated, supporting a potential MPXV sexual transmission hypothesis.

Keywords: polymerase chain reaction; sexual transmission; viral culture; viral isolation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Graphical representation of the results of real-time PCR and viral culture derived from anal and urethral swabs from human monkeypox cases, according to time between symptom onset and swab collection, Italy, May–July 2022 (n = 33 cases)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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