Mpox Clade IIb Virus Introduction into Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, July 2025.
Clade I mpox virus (MPXV) is endemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Recent studies have described the changing epidemiology of mpox in the country, which has been mainly characterized by the emergence of new MPXV lineages, Clade Ib/sh2023 and Ia/sh2024, associated with sustained human-to-human transmission. Both Clade Ib/sh2023 and Ia/sh2024 are co-circulating in Kinshasa, the capital city of the DRC. Here, we report the first two cases of Clade IIb/sh2017 identified in Kinshasa, DRC, imported from West Africa and locally transmitted. Clinical specimens were collected and tested by PCR. We performed whole genome sequencing using a tiled-amplicon sequencing approach with Clade IIb MPXV-specific primers. The phylogenetic tree shows that Kinshasa Clade IIb MPXV is assigned to Clade IIb/sh2017 within the newly designated lineage G.1, as identified in January 2025 in Sierra-Leone.
Authors
- Dieudonné Mwamba
- Jeanine Nkakulu
- Pierre Akilimali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3828-6214)
- Christian Ngandu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9313-606X)
- M. Keita
- Raphaël Lumembe-Numbi
- Ngashi Ngongo
- Nadege Kabamba Ngombe
- Gradi Luakanda-Ndelemo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0406-2361)
- Cris Kacita (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0227-7609)
- Pauline-Chloé Muswamba-Kayembe
- Princesse Paku-Tshambu
- Áine O’Toole
- Sikoti Josaphat
- Jérémie Kundey-Mafu
- Jacques Santini-Mafuta
- Israel Cinkobu-Bualukengu
- Adelar Lofungola
- Judith Tete-Sitra
- Adrienne Amuri-Aziza
- Eddy Kinganda-Lusamaki
- Elzedek Mabika-Bope
- Samy Tessi-Mvutukulu
- Lorenzo Subissi
- Nick Loman
- Jason Kindrachuk
- Laurens Liesenborghs
- Daan Jansen
- Martine Peeters
- Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum
- Andrew Rambaut
- Yap Boum
- Fiston Cikaya-Kankolongo
- Placide Mbala-Kingebeni
- Prince Akil-Bandali
- Tony Wawina-Bokalanga
- Jean Claude Makangara Cigolo
- Emmanuel Lokilo-Lofiko
- Nicole A Hoff
- Koen Vercauteren
- Sofonias K. Tessema
- Olga Ntumba-Tshitenge
- Steve Ahuka-Mundeke
- Anne W Rimoin
Institutions
- Cellular Research (United States) (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Open Access CRIS of the University of Bern
- Published
- 2026-01-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.48620/94274
- Primary Topic
- Poxvirus research and outbreaks
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00