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Rapid spread of MPXV clade Ib with high genetic relatedness among men who have sex with men, Berlin, Germany, week 50 2025 up to week 10 2026
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Alexander Bartel1
,
Klaus Jansen2
,
Ronja Boberg1
,
Julia Bitzegeio1
,
Annika Brinkmann3
,
Livia Schrick3
,
Raskit Lachmann4
,
Daniel Sagebiel1
,
Andreas Nitsche3
,
Claudia Ruscher1
,
Janine Michel3
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations: 1 Surveillance and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases Unit, State Office for Health and Social Affairs (SOHSA), Berlin, Germany 2 Unit for HIV/AIDS, STI and Blood-borne Infections, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany 3 Center for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens 1, Highly Pathogenic Viruses, German Consultant Laboratory for Poxviruses, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany 4 Unit for Gastrointestinal Infections, Zoonoses and Tropical Infections, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, GermanyCorrespondence:Alexander Bartelalexander.bartel lageso.berlin.de
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Citation style for this article: Bartel Alexander, Jansen Klaus, Boberg Ronja, Bitzegeio Julia, Brinkmann Annika, Schrick Livia, Lachmann Raskit, Sagebiel Daniel, Nitsche Andreas, Ruscher Claudia, Michel Janine. Rapid spread of MPXV clade Ib with high genetic relatedness among men who have sex with men, Berlin, Germany, week 50 2025 up to week 10 2026. Euro Surveill. 2026;31(12):pii=2600235. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.12.2600235 Received: 18 Mar 2026; Accepted: 26 Mar 2026
Abstract
Following the first detection of monkeypox virus (MPXV) clade Ib in Berlin, Germany, in December 2025, clade Ib rapidly predominated over clade IIb among notified mpox cases. The 35 clade Ib cases were primarily due to autochthonous transmission, with high genetic relatedness among strains circulating in men in Berlin, despite no identified epidemiological links. Sexual contact between men was reported as a potential source of infection in 28 cases, while for the remaining seven cases this information was unknown.
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