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In June 2022, WHO and Ministry of Health officials provide information about how to avoid mpox to residents of Weta village in Maniema province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mpox

Mpox emergency demands immediate and equitable access to reliable diagnostics

Mpox emergency highlights the critical need for accurate and rapid diagnosis at the primary care level

  • We are working with partners to ensure everyone has access to testing within the first 100 days of a health emergency.
  • Surge funding is urgently needed to rapidly expand the procurement, production, and distribution of quality assured diagnostics tools.

Mpox cases are escalating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and crossing borders into neighboring countries, leading the Africa CDC to raise the alarm as a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security on 13 August and WHO to declare the regional outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International (PHIEC) Concern the day after.

Our Mpox Taskforce activated a response plan from 16 August 2024 to accelerate diagnostic capabilities for the countries affected.

Outbreaks test directory

We maintains a searchable directory of diagnostic tests for select outbreak-prone pathogens. The outbreaks test directory includes commercialized tests for identification, detection and/or surveillance for diseases like mpox, ebola, cholera and many others.

Pathogen diagnostics readiness index

The first version of the index includes data on pathogens for outbreak-, epidemic-, and pandemic-prone diseases, providing valuable insights into preparedness to respond to potential outbreaks.

Request for proposals

Seeking developers and manufacturers of mpox diagnostics to participate in a performance evaluation in low- and middle-income countries and accelerate product development.

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Evaluations of mpox diagnostics

From 2022 to 2024, we have been conducting diagnostic evaluation studies in collaboration with multiple independent sites to determine the accuracy of mpox diagnostics.

See the results
Emmanuel Agogo

We are working with other global partners on the 100 Days Mission aspirations to expand testing options, access to testing where it is needed, and evaluation of point-of-care diagnostic tools for mpox.

It is critical for reliable and timely diagnostics to reach people and countries in need, equitably and fast.

Emmanuel Agogo

FIND, Director of Pandemic Threats

What is mpox?

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus. There are two distinct clades of the virus: clade I (with subclades Ia and Ib) and clade II (with subclades IIa and IIb).

Read more

More information

    Pandemic Threats health programme

    Future outbreaks of infectious diseases may be inevitable, but we can stop them becoming pandemics by strengthening early-warning and response systems for known and emerging pathogens.

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