Application of the Ibis-T5000 Pan-Orthopoxvirus Assay to Quantitatively Detect Monkeypox Viral Loads in Clinical Specimens from Macaques Experimentally Infected with Aerosolized Monkeypox Virus

Monkeypox Virus (MPXV), a member of the family Poxviridae and genus Orthopoxvirus. causes a smallpox-like disease in humans. A previously described pan-Orthopoxvirus assay, based on a broad-range polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (PCR/ESI-MS), was evaluated for its ability to detect MPXV front spiked human and aerosol-infected cynomolgous macaque (Macaca fascicularis) samples. Detection of MPXV DNA from macaque tissue. blood, and spiked human blood by the PCR/ESI-MS pan-Orthopoxvirus assay was comparable, albeit at slightly higher levels, to the Current gold standard method of real-time PCR with the pan-Orthopoxvirus assay and had a limit of detection of 200 plaque-forming units. Furthermore, the platform was able to distinguish MPXV and vaccinia Viruses that were spiked into macaque blood samples at various concentrations. This platform provides a new tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of orthopoxviral loads during vaccine or antiviral Studies, but also could provide rapid identification during natural Outbreaks or bioterrorism attacks.