The US government has doubled its testing capacity for monkeypox this week, after Labcorp rolled out its own commercial testing on Wednesday.
The clinical laboratory network will take specimens from all over the United States and be able to process up to 10,000 tests a week at their main lab in North Carolina.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday that commercial labs can test for monkeypox is a key pillar in our comprehensive strategy to combat this disease. This will increase testing capacity and make it easier for providers and patients to access tests by using existing provider-to- lab relationships. The health care providers can order tests for monkeypox directly from Labcorp, allowing people to give samples at local clinics.
Monkeypox, a virus similar to smallpox but with less severe symptoms, first hit the United States in mid-May after Massachusetts detected a case.
More than 600 cases have been detected in dozens of states since then, according to the CDC.
In 58 countries, more than 6,000 cases have been reported in the world.
There is a challenge and it is highly likely that there are a large number of cases that are not picked up. More than 80% of monkeypox cases were recorded in Europe, according to World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a press conference on Wednesday.