Five commercial labs now performing monkeypox testing in US
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All five of the commercial labs named by HHS have begun monkeypox testing in the United States amid a growing outbreak.
In June, HHS began shipping orthopoxvirus tests to five commercial laboratory companies — Aegis Science, Labcorp, Mayo Clinic Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and Sonic Healthcare — to increase monkeypox testing capacity and access. As of Monday, they all have begun testing, the most recent being Sonic Healthcare.
According to the CDC, Sonic Healthcare will offer testing at its laboratory in Austin, Texas, accepting specimens through its network of clinical laboratories located across the U.S. The company plans to expand testing capacity as needed.
“Being a medically led organization, Sonic Healthcare USA is uniquely equipped to respond quickly and in close coordination with the CDC to these types of disease outbreaks," Sonic CEO Jerry Hussong, MD, MBA, said in a press release.
Labcorp was the first of the five companies to begin testing for monkeypox, making it the first national laboratory to offer the PCR test. The Mayo Clinic made its announcement shortly after, followed by Quest Diagnostics, Aegis Science and now Sonic Healthcare.
Unlike the other companies, Quest plans to use a real-time PCR test that uses patient swab specimens to qualitatively detect non-variola orthpoxviruses and monkeypox virus DNA that the company developed itself. The company is also verifying CDC’s orthopoxvirus test and plans to make it available to providers in the first half of August.
“The ability of commercial laboratories to test for monkeypox is an important pillar in our comprehensive strategy to combat this disease,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, said in a press release. “This will not only increase testing capacity but also make it more convenient for providers and patients to access tests by using existing provider-to-laboratory networks.”
In addition to increased testing, the CDC has issued travel alerts and expanded access to vaccines in response to the outbreak. HHS also ordered an additional 2.5 million doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine to strengthen preparedness. This followed an earlier order made for 2.5 million doses that will begin arriving over the next year and will bring the federal stockpile of vaccine to treat monkeypox to nearly 7 million doses by mid-2023.
WHO has so far declined to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, although the emergency committee plans to meet again soon.
As of Friday, the CDC had confirmed 1,814 cases of monkeypox in the U.S.
References:
Aegis Sciences to begin monkeypox testing today, increasing nationwide testing capacity. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0714-aegis-monkeypox-testing.html. Published July 14, 2022. Accessed July 18, 2022.
CDC. Monkeypox – 2022 U.S. Map & case count. https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/us-map.html. Accessed July 18, 2022.
HHS expanding monkeypox testing capacity to five commercial laboratory companies. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/06/22/hhs-expanding-monkeypox-testing-capacity-five-commercial-laboratory-companies.html. Published June 22, 2022. Accessed July 6, 2022.
HHS orders additional vaccine, increases testing capacity to respond to monkeypox outbreak. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/07/15/hhs-orders-additional-vaccine-increases-testing-capacity-to-respond-to-monkeypox-outbreak.html. Published July 15, 2022. Accessed July 18, 2022.
Labcorp first national laboratory to offer monkeypox test. https://www.labcorp.com/labcorp-first-national-laboratory-offer-monkeypox-test. Published July 6, 2022. Accessed July 6, 2022.
Mayo Clinic Laboratories to begin monkeypox testing today, increasing nationwide testing capacity. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0711-monkeypox-mayo.html. Published July 11, 2022. Accessed July 11, 2022.
Quest Diagnostics to begin monkeypox testing today, increasing nationwide testing capacity. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0711-monkeypox-quest.html. Published July 13, 2022. Accessed July 18, 2022.
Sonic Healthcare USA announces testing availability for monkeypox. https://www.sonichealthcareusa.com/about-us/news/2022/07/sonic-healthcare-usa-announces-testing-availability-for-monkeypox/. Published July 18, 2022. Accessed July 18, 2022.
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