Oxford University is contributing to a new research consortium as part of the UK’s efforts to tackle the monkeypox outbreak.
The University of Oxford confirmed its partnership in the new consortium on October 25 which will work together to develop better diagnostic tests, identify potential therapies and study vaccine effectiveness.
Oxford University Monkeypox Research
The consortium will be led by the Pirbright Institute and the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, but researchers from across the University of Oxford will play a key role in the monkeypox research.
Bringing together 25 leading researchers and scientists from 12 institutions across the UK, the consortium has received £2 million from the Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), both part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
At Oxford Uni Prof Dong and her team, based at both the CAMS-Oxford Institute at the Nuffield Department of Medicine and MRC Human Immunology Unit at the MRC WIMM, will work to understand the cross-reactivity of existing T cells elicited in response to the smallpox vaccine against monkeypox infection, as well as characterising the T cell responses elicited by monkeypox infection.
Monkeypox in the UK
Human monkeypox infection was first identified in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, there have been numerous outbreaks within Africa where it is endemic.
In May 2022, multiple cases of monkeypox were identified in several non-endemic countries. Since May, in the UK, there have been more than 3,400 confirmed cases and internationally the WHO reports that it has now spread to 50 countries and territories.
Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials such as bedding.
A member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae, monkeypox is closely related to the eradicated smallpox virus. While evidence suggests that smallpox vaccination can offer protection against monkeypox, the level of this cross-reactivity is currently unclear.