The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved a new real-time PCR test for the detection of mpox, a virus causing fever, aches, and skin lesions, in countries facing outbreaks. This test will provide immediate results by swabbing human skin lesions, increasing testing capabilities and efficiency. Currently, only 37 percent of suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been tested this year. Mpox has been detected in 16 African countries, with over 800 deaths reported across the continent, leading to limited testing capacity and delays in confirming cases.
The approval of this new diagnostic test under the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) procedure marks a significant milestone in expanding testing availability in affected countries. The WHO is evaluating three new mpox diagnostic tests and working with manufacturers to increase the availability of diagnostic tools to combat the virus. The latest outbreak of mpox, which began in the DRC and spread to neighbouring countries, has seen the emergence of two strains of the virus: clade 1, endemic in parts of West and Central Africa, and clade 1b, a more infectious variant causing international concern.
Yukiko Nakatani, the WHO’s assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, emphasized the importance of the new test in protecting people in underserved regions and containing the spread of the virus. The approval of this test comes after the WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, prompting manufacturers to submit their products for emergency review to expedite their availability during public health emergencies.
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