Another seven labs to diagnose monkeypox in Brazil

Brazil’s Ministry of Health reported it has registered seven new Central Public Health Laboratories ready to perform diagnostic tests for monkeypox. Before the expansion, tests were performed in eight other facilities across four states.

The move is said to “ensure greater speed in identifying the virus, which has been under surveillance since it was first detected in the country, in June 2022.”

Cases

As per official data, at least 7,115 cases of the viral infection had been registered across Brazil by Tuesday (Sep 20), most in the states of São Paulo (3,548), Rio de Janeiro (963), Minas Gerais (446), Goiás (415), and Ceará (247).

Regarding the tests, to be distributed throughout the network of registered laboratories according to the epidemiological situation in each state, the amount originally forecast for acquisition by the ministry was 60 thousand kits, a number that may vary according to availability.

The diagnosis is reached exclusively through PCR-type molecular testing, the same technology as the tests from the Biomanguinhos laboratory at Fiocruz, approved by national drug authority Anvisa.