NewsDesk @ bactiman63
To rapidly increase the capacity and access to monkeypox testing in all communities during the ongoing smallpox outbreak, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began sending orthopoxvirus tests to five commercial lab companies, including the nation’s largest reference labs: Aegis Science, Labcorp, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics, and Sonic Healthcare.
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay
These commercial labs will dramatically expand testing capacity across the country and make testing more comfortable and accessible for patients and health care providers. Healthcare providers will be able to use these labs in early July and testing capacity through these companies will increase throughout the month. This development will facilitate increased testing, take advantage of the relationships established between clinics, hospitals, and commercial laboratories, and support our ability to better understand the scope of the current monkeypox outbreak.
“All Americans should be concerned about monkeypox cases. Fortunately, right now we have the tools to fight and treat cases in the United States,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. “By drastically expanding the number of test sites across the country, we make it possible for anyone who needs to be tested to do so.”
As of today, the CDC has reported 201 confirmed cases of smallpox / orthopoxvirus in 25 states and the District of Columbia.