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

[tetano]

• Davide Moschese¹ , Giacomo Pozza² , Davide Mileto³ , Andrea Giacomelli² , Miriam Cutrera³ , Maria Vittoria Cossu¹ , Maddalena Matone¹ , Martina Beltrami² , Federica Salari³ , Spinello Antinori⁴ , Alessandra Lombardi³ , Giuliano Rizzardini¹

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.

https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.36.2200675#html_fulltext