{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T07:08:04Z","timestamp":1784272084032,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,7]],"date-time":"2025-10-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759795200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["cambridge.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Epidemiol. Infect."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Mpox (formerly called monkeypox) is a zoonotic viral disease caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV) that has recently emerged as a notable global health issue by spreading beyond its typical geographical zones in Central and West Africa. In this study, we conducted a phylogenetic and evolutionary investigation of MPXV in West Africa. We focussed on 167 complete genome sequences collected from human infections in Nigeria and Cameroon between 2019 and 2024, all of which were retrieved from the GSAID database. To analyse these sequences, we employed multiple sequence alignment using fast Fourier transform (MAFFT) and maximum likelihood techniques to identify conserved genomic variants and trace evolutionary patterns within the virus. Our findings revealed that all the MPXV strains studied belong to clade II, which is further subdivided into two subclades. Notably, this study documents the presence of two distinct subclades IIa and IIb, reflecting the complex and ongoing evolution of the virus in the region. The phylogenetic analysis reveals rapid mutations and suggests that MPXV is being transmitted from multiple lineages between Nigeria and Cameroon. This demands the need to further strengthen the surveillance and containment efforts in West Africa. This study highlights the role of genomic surveillance in monitoring the evolution and spread of the MPXV, particularly in regions with limited available data.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1017\/s0950268825100411","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,7]],"date-time":"2025-10-07T05:16:06Z","timestamp":1759814166000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/policypage","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Tracking the evolutionary footprint of Mpox in West Africa: phylogenetic and clade analysis"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"154","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9646-5122","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elijah Kolawole","family":"Oladipo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Helix Biogen Institute"},{"name":"Helix Biogen Institute"},{"name":"Adeleke University"},{"name":"University of Birmingham"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-3405-9314","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephen Feranmi","family":"Adeyemo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Helix Biogen Institute"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"James Akinwumi","family":"Ogunniran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Helix Biogen Institute"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Possible Okikiola","family":"Popoola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Helix Biogen Institute"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Victoria Ajike","family":"Alabi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Helix Biogen Institute"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joshua","family":"Opanike","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Helix Biogen Institute"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"S0950268825100411_r27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2018.00241"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed8020076"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010141"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r19","unstructured":"[19] World Health Organization. (29 May, 2025) Mpox: Multi-country External Situation Report no.53. https:\/\/cdn.who.int\/media\/docs\/default-source\/documents\/emergencies\/multi-country-outbreak-of-mpox--external-situation-report--53.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com (Accessed 24 July 2025)."},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r28","first-page":"e629","article-title":"Genomic characterisation of human monkeypox virus in Nigeria","volume":"3","author":"Faye","year":"2022","journal-title":"The Lancet Microbe"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cmi.2023.07.011"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2604.191164"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/acsestwater.2c00287"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r18","first-page":"e1360","article-title":"Exploring computational approaches to design mRNA vaccine against vaccinia and monkeypox viruses","volume":"12","author":"Oladipo","year":"2024","journal-title":"Infectious Diseases: Research and Treatment"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/bioinformatics\/btw412"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijsu.2022.106998"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkt389"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(23)00055-5"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.o1274"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/bib\/bbx108"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r10","unstructured":"[10] World Health Organization. (2025) Mpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak: Global Trends. https:\/\/worldhealthorg.shinyapps.io\/mpx_global\/ (accessed 12 May 2025)."},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2022.159166"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2807\/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.13.30494"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.add4153"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMra2208860"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-022-01421-8"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/bioinformatics\/btw108"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r30","unstructured":"[30] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025) Ongoing Clade II Mpox Global Outbreak. https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mpox\/outbreaks\/2022\/index-1.html (accessed 14 May 2025)."},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r5","first-page":"1027","article-title":"Human monkeypox: Epidemiologic and clinical characteristics, diagnosis, and prevention","volume":"33","author":"Petersen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Infectious Disease Clinics"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41591-022-01907-y"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tmaid.2022.102402"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r25","first-page":"W5","article-title":"MAFFT-DASH: Integrated protein sequence and structural alignment","volume":"47","author":"Rozewicki","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Research"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijregi.2024.100402"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r34","first-page":"1","article-title":"Recent advances in the diagnostic tools for monkeypox virus","volume":"3","author":"Kandeel","year":"2023","journal-title":"Infectious Medicine"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r33","first-page":"512","article-title":"Design of a novel multi-epitope vaccine against Monkeypox virus using immunoinformatics tools","volume":"11","author":"Alshahrani","year":"2023","journal-title":"Vaccine"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41591-024-03130-3"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.3001769"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3201\/eid3003.230861"},{"key":"S0950268825100411_r26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1099\/vir.0.81215-0"}],"container-title":["Epidemiology and Infection"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S0950268825100411","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T06:58:29Z","timestamp":1784271509000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S0950268825100411\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,7]]},"references-count":34,"alternative-id":["S0950268825100411"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/s0950268825100411","relation":{},"ISSN":["0950-2688","1469-4409"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0950-2688","type":"print"},{"value":"1469-4409","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,7]]},"assertion":[{"value":"\u00a9 The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press","name":"copyright","label":"Copyright","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.","name":"license","label":"License","group":{"name":"copyright_and_licensing","label":"Copyright and Licensing"}},{"value":"This content has been made available to all.","name":"free","label":"Free to read"}],"article-number":"e46"}}