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The World Health Organization approved the first mpox diagnostic test for emergency use, weeks after it declared the disease a global health emergency.
The disease, formerly known as monkeypox, is considered endemic in some African countries, but a deadlier and more easily transmittable strain previously only found in the Democratic Republic of Congo has since been detected in neighboring countries.
Testing capacity in the continent remains low — only 37% of suspected cases were tested in the DRC this year. The newly approved test marks a “significant milestone” to expand access in affected areas, the WHO said.
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A shortage of mpox vaccines has made it hard for countries to contain the spread of the disease: At the end of September, the WHO chief called for pharmaceutical companies to work with Africa to expand access to vaccines and urged rich countries to stop stockpiling the jabs.
Outside Africa, mpox has only been identified in Sweden and Thailand. More than 70 non-African countries have access to vaccines, causing shortages in the African countries that need them, Semafor’s Samuel Getachew reported.