1. The monkeypox diagnostic kit created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now being made available by Sonic Healthcare.
2. Using the CDC’s test for monkeypox and other orthopoxviruses unrelated to smallpox, the company will accept specimens through its network of clinical laboratories and conduct the tests at its reference laboratory in Austin, Texas.
3. Sonic will cooperate with the CDC’s Laboratory Response Network to increase test capacity as needed. This network has assisted the United States in scaling up to accommodate 80,000 specimens per week.
Depth Insight:
In June, the CDC secured contracts with five private laboratories, including Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics, to expand access to monkeypox testing. The U.S. was able to enhance capacity with the addition of the commercial labs to the 78 public health locations performing monkeypox tests. Previously limited to 6,000 specimens per week, the nation may now accommodate up to 80,000 specimens.
The most recent addition to the project is Sonic. As with any other service, healthcare professionals can order the Sonic test, creating a new avenue for the identification of a virus that has now been identified in nearly 2,000 Americans.
“The ability of commercial laboratories to test for monkeypox is an important pillar in our comprehensive strategy to combat this disease”, “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.”
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky
All private laboratories are currently operational and collaborating with the Laboratory Response Network of the CDC. When Labcorp declared the start of its monkeypox testing service on July 6, it claimed to be the first to do so.
The testing programme is made possible by the CDC’s efforts to create a polymerase chain reaction that can identify all orthopoxviruses other than monkeypox.
