Monkeypox virus genome sequencing – first draft genome associated with the 2022 multi-country outbreak obtained using shotgun metagenomics in Portugal

In mid-May 2022, multiple cases of monkeypox started to be identified in several non-endemic countries, mainly in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain. On May 20th, following a shotgun metagenomics approach using MinION, Joana and her team released the first draft genome sequence of the monkeypox virus associated with this recent major outbreak.