About
- Level: Laboratory Advisory
- Audience: Clinical Laboratory Professionals
Mpox specimen testing guidance
On August 7, 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ob体育) issued a about the ongoing mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its spread to neighboring countries. The first about this outbreak was released in December 2023.
Who and how to test
For all laboratories performing mpox testing using an orthopoxvirus or monkeypox virus (MPXV) generic test without any additional clade-specific testing occurring, ob体育 recommends that laboratories send clinical specimens collected from patients who traveled from 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, to a capable public health laboratory or to ob体育 is encouraged. Specimen submission to ob体育 can be coordinated through your . Due to mutations that may impact clade-specific PCR tests, laboratories should use a test that targets a viral essential gene (e.g., the ob体育 NVO test) as part of a testing strategy to ensure mpox cases are not missed.
Submitting specimens to ob体育
Laboratories using ob体育's non-variola orthopoxvirus (NVO) test should continue submitting the duplicate specimen to ob体育 from all patients with positive NVO test results for routine MPXV clade-specific testing if they are not performing clade-specific testing in their laboratory. Specimens that cannot be accepted at ob体育 for clinical testing under Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) will be redirected for surveillance purposes and tested, providing critical data on MPXV clade(s) circulating in the United States. Some non-ob体育 laboratories may have other options available for clade-specific testing (e.g., molecular testing or genetic sequencing). These laboratories should alert their and ob体育 ([email protected]) if results from such tests indicate detection of clade I MPXV.
Please review the for more information, including recommendations for clinicians, health departments, laboratories, and the public.
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Thank you,
The Laboratory Outreach Communication System
Laboratory Outreach Communication System (LOCS) | Division of Laboratory Systems (DLS)
Center for Laboratory Systems and Response (CLSR)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ob体育)