Since May 2022, mpox cases have been reported in many non-endemic countries in the world with community transmissions.
On 26 August, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to stop outbreaks of human-to-human transmission of mpox through coordinated global, regional, and national efforts. This follows the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO Director-General on 14 August.
It should be noted that mpox outbreak this time is different from that in 2022, which was mainly spreading among men who have sex with men, and the mortality rate of infected people was less than 1%.
The recent prevalent strain “Clade Ib”, which is a variant of Clade I, has a higher mortality rate. This new variant began to spread in DRC last September, initially among sex workers, and has now spread to other groups, with children being particularly susceptible.
The Africa CDC said in a report last month that mpox outbreaks have been found in 10 African countries this year, including DRC, which has reported 96.3% of all cases in Africa this year and 97% of the deaths. It is worth noting that nearly 70% of the cases in DRC are children under the 15s, and this group accounts for 85% of the deaths in the country.
Mpox is a zoonosis caused by the mpox virus with the incubation period of 5 to 21 days, mostly 6 to 13 days. The infected person will have symptoms such as fever, headache and swollen lymph nodes, followed by rash on the face and other parts of the body, which gradually develops into pustules and lasts for about a week before scabbing. The case is contagious from the onset of symptoms until the scabs fall off naturally.
Macro & Micro-Test is providing rapid tests, molecular kits and sequencing solutions for mpox virus detection, assisting in-time mpox virus diagnosis, supervision of its origin, lineage, transmission and genomic variations:
Monkeypox Virus Antigen Detection Kit (Immunochromatography)
Easy sampling (rash fluid/throat sample) and fast result within 10-15 min;
High sensitivity with LoD of 20pg/mL covering Clade I & II；
High specificity with no cross-reactivity with smallpox virus, varicella zoster virus, rubella virus,herpes simplex virus, etc.
OPA of 96.4% compared with NAATs;
Wide application such as customs, CDCs, pharmacies, clinics, hospitals or at home.
