NPHIL Alerts New Strain of Monkey-pox Virus In Liberia Amid Decline In Cases
August 26, 2025
Monrovia: National Public Health Institute of Liberia has alerted the public of new strain of Monkey-pox virus currently In Liberia despite decline In Cases.
According to a statement issued by NPHIL, a group of scientists led by renowned biomedical scientist, Dougbeh Chris Nyan, discovered the new strain of the virus.
The new strain of the virus was detected, identified, and characterized as strain Clade IIa more than half a century after the first case of an uncharacterized Monkey-pox virus was detected in Liberia in 1970, about 55 years ago.
The statement notes that the findings have been independently validated in collaboration with Nigerian and US scientists and published in the scientific journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The Mpox Clade IIa was first detected and identified by NPHIL Team at the National Reference Laboratory of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) located in Charlesville, Liberia, among a pool of Mpox confirmed specimens of Mpox-infected persons from Sinoe, Lofa, and other counties in August and September 2024, as well as analyzed with specimens of 2023.
“With the genomic sequencing technology we acquired at the NPHIL, our National Reference Laboratory now can sequence any pathogen and identify its genetic make-up for accurate characterization,” said Dr. Nyan, the NPHIL’s Director General, who led the studies in Liberia that detected the Mpox Clade IIa strain in Liberia.
Bode Shobayo, the erstwhile head of Research, Innovation, and Development at the NPHIL, said, “for several years since the founding of the NPHIL after the Ebola outbreak of 2014, we could only detect, but could not identify the genes of pathogens like Ebola, COVID-19, and many others; now we can.”
Mpox is a viral zoonotic disease that is harbored in animals and is transmitted from person to person mainly through direct contact. Symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, and large, fluid-filled rashes seen all over the body. Mpox Clade IIb is widely circulating in West Africa, while Clade Ia and Ib circulate mainly in Central Africa.
The Africa CDC and the WHO declared an outbreak of Monkeypox virus on the 13th and 14th of August 2024, respectively as a public health emergency of continental and global concern.
As of the August 22, 2025 Mpox National Incident Management System meeting, the NPHIL reported Zero (0) deaths in Liberia and 112 active cases, as reported in the Epi-week bulletin.
US Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island who recently visited the NPHIL National Reference Lab praised NPHIL staff, saying, “We are impressed by the dedication of the scientists and public health professionals at NPHIL. Your work is vital not only for Liberia, but also for global health security.”
Under the Africa CDC’s Research Prioritization program and Liberia’s National Genomic Program, the National Public Health Institute of Liberia has strived to link outbreak response with biomedical research, thereby focusing on genomic sequencing and establishing platforms for diagnostics and vaccine development in Liberia.
“We thank the Liberian government, the Africa CDC, and the WHO-Afro for the support of the NPHIL genomic program. This project demonstrates the strength of continental and transatlantic research collaborations, and how this should ensure that African scientists are appropriately credited on publications and research products for research works generated by Africans researchers and work originating from African institutions on the mother continent,” Dr. Nyan emphasized.
This breakthrough scientific development in Liberia comes 55 years after the Monkeypox virus was first detected in the country in 1970 when its genetic characteristic was unknown back then.
DEA)
