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Two weeks after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox outbreak as a global health emergency, it has now invited pharmaceutical manufacturers to assess preparedness in ensuring diagnostic tests to the affected populations.
“WHO has been in ongoing discussions with manufacturers about the need for effective diagnostics, particularly in low-income settings. The request for EUL expressions of interest by manufacturers is the latest development in these discussions,” the United Nations agency mentioned in a press statement issued on August 30.
It underlined that testing is key for the infected persons to get treatment and care as early as possible and prevent further spread. According to an update shared by WHO on August 14, there are at least 15,600 cases and 537 deaths attributed to the mpox outbreak which began in Africa.
The WHO also mentioned that since 2022, WHO has delivered around 150,000 diagnostic tests for mpox globally, of which over a quarter have gone to countries in the African region.
In the coming weeks, the WHO shall deliver another 30,000 tests to African countries.
“With as many as 1000 suspected cases reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC] alone this week, the demand for diagnostic tests is on the rise. In this heavily affected country, WHO has worked with partners to scale up diagnostic capacity to respond to the upsurge of cases,” the WHO stated.
“Since May 2024, six additional labs have been equipped to diagnose mpox, enabling a decentralization of testing capacity from major cities to affected provinces,” it added.
It is reported that due to these efforts, testing rates have dramatically improved in the country, with four times as many samples tested in 2024 so far as compared to 2023.
The infection is similar to smallpox which was effectively eradicated in 1980, but mpox has continued to make headlines in central and west Africa. Historically, the first human case of mpox was recorded in DRC in 1970.
In its notes on mpox, WHO mentions that the symptoms include rash, fever, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes. The mode of transmission of mpox infection includes face-to-face, skin-to-skin, mouth-to-mouth, mouth-to-skin contact, respiratory droplets or short-range aerosols from prolonged close contact.
“Mpox is a zoonosis, a disease that is transmitted from animals to humans, with cases often found close to tropical rainforests where there are animals that carry the virus. Evidence of monkeypox virus infection has been found in animals including squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, dormice, different species of monkeys and others,” the WHO factsheet on the disease mentions.
The WHO also mentions that children, pregnant people and people with weak immune systems are at risk for complications from mpox.