|
As
more cases are diagnosed in a global monkeypox outbreak, biotech
companies and health officials are looking to make PCR
testing for the virus more widely available in the United
States.
Dozens
of public health labs across the country use a more generalized test
for orthopoxvirus, a larger category that includes monkeypox and
smallpox. Two companies, Roche and Abbott, have announced plans to roll
out monkeypox PCR tests, although right now, their test kits are for
research only.
And
the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it's exploring
ways to get monkeypox-specific testing out to states.
There
are 74 labs across 46 states -- part of a network known as the
Laboratory Response Network -- that are "using an FDA-cleared test
for orthopoxviruses," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last
week.
The
testing that the CDC does is more specific to the monkeypox virus, and
the agency can genetically sequence samples, as well. For example, it
was by looking at the viral genetic code of the first US patient -- a
man in Massachusetts who had recently traveled to Canada -- that
researchers were able to see that his case of monkeypox closely matched
that of a case in Portugal.
However,
Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the CDC's Division of High
Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, underscored that the testing that
goes on at the CDC isn't really necessary for patient care. "The
orthopox test that's in place is an actionable test," she said.
Experts
say that action may include isolating patients, making treatments and
vaccines available, and tracing contacts to determine who else might
have been exposed to the virus.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment