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- CDC Releases Recommendations for Mpox Specimen Testing
On August 7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health alert for all laboratories performing mpox testing using an orthopoxvirus or monkeypox virus (MPXV) generic test without any additional clade-specific testing occurring.
The CDC recommends that laboratories send clinical specimens collected from patients who traveled from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), its neighboring countries, or any country with clade I mpox cases, or had close or intimate contact with symptomatic people from these countries, to a laboratory that can perform clade-specific testing as quickly as possible. If clade-specific testing is warranted but is not available in a jurisdiction, specimen submission to a capable public health laboratory or to CDC is encouraged. Specimen submission to CDC can be coordinated through your state or local health department. Due to mutations that may impact clade-specific PCR tests, laboratories should use a test that targets a viral essential gene (e.g., the CDC NVO test) as part of a testing strategy to ensure mpox cases are not missed.
Click here for more information, including recommendations for clinicians, health departments, laboratories, and the public.