WHO Approves First Diagnostic Test For Mpox

Bloomberg (10/4, Kew, Subscription Publication) reported, “The first diagnostic test for mpox has been approved by the World Health Organization in a bid to expand its availability and stop the spread of lethal outbreaks of the disease in Africa.” The new “diagnostic tool is a real-time polymerase chain reaction test made by Abbott Molecular Inc.” The test “can detect both sub-variants of the virus: one which has been around for decades, and another newer, more infectious one.” According to Bloomberg, “the WHO authorization helps countries which have not cleared the medical products through their own approval processes to procure tests through UN agencies and other partners.”