WASHINGTON DC – The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the use of the first diagnostic test for mpox that will provide immediate results. This will increase testing capabilities in countries facing outbreaks, it says. The WHO announced on Friday that it had approved the “real-time PCR test”, Alinity m MPXV assay, which enables the detection of the virus by testing swabs of skin lesions.

Currently, patients have to wait days for results. This test will help health workers confirm suspected cases more “efficiently”, the WHO said. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the current outbreak, only 37 percent of suspected cases have been tested this year, the United Nations health agency noted.

This test’s approval “will be pivotal in expanding diagnostic capacity in countries facing mpox outbreaks, where the need for quick and accurate testing has risen sharply,” it added in a statement. Mpox, which is transmitted by human-to-human contact and contact with infected animals, has been detected in 16 African countries this year.

According to the African Union’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 800 people across the continent have died from the disease, which causes fever, aches and skin lesions. “By detecting DNA from pustular or vesicular rash samples, laboratory and health workers can confirm suspected mpox cases efficiently and effectively,” the WHO said. “Limited testing capacity and delays in confirming mpox cases persist in Africa, contributing to the continued spread of the virus,” it added. (Al Jazeera)