(WXYZ) — When monkeypox first started spreading, there were not enough laboratories to meet demand. But with the help of private labs, testing capacity increased.
However, experts say there’s now a shocking lack of demand.
When monkeypox first started spreading back in May, testing was limited to commercial labs that could process 8,000 samples per week. Now, the U.S. can process a total of 80,000 samples a week.
That’s because five private labs were authorized to handle up to 70,000 samples weekly. One of them is Mayo Clinic Laboratories. They can handle up to 1,000 samples a week but so far, have only received 45 samples.
Another lab called Aegis Sciences Corporation can process 5,000 tests a week. Over the last couple of weeks, they’ve received zero samples. One of the largest commercial labs in the U.S. called Labcorp has said samples sent to them have been higher than before but “extremely low” overall.
Testing is crucial to getting monkeypox under control. Part of the reason could be because identifying cases can be a bit tricky. The rash that often develops with monkeypox isn’t always distinctive. Sometimes it just looks like a pimple.
Also, not everyone will develop a rash. They might instead get a fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes or fatigue.
Another reason why testing could be low is because many of the people who are at high risk — men who have sex with other men — often go to sexual health clinics. And these clinics are becoming overwhelmed. They have their usual workload plus patients who have either have monkeypox and need treatment or want to be tested for it.
Unfortunately, many of these clinics just don’t have enough staff to handle the paperwork or get the samples sent off to labs for testing.
Having said that, I think testing will increase once doctors learn more about monkeypox and get better at identifying it. Also, the President Joe Biden administration is being urged to step up and help sexual health clinics by allocating extra funding for them.
In the meantime, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraging people who suspect they have monkeypox or think they’ve been exposed to see a clinician to get tested. Testing helps health officials know the extent of the outbreak and what communities need the most resources.
It’s also very important for people who test positive to isolate at home away from other family members. Identifying and isolating patients is really the key to controlling the spread.
