The African Union’s health agency, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), has approved the first locally produced test for mpox, developed in Morocco, calling it a significant advancement for health independence in Africa.
The test, a real-time PCR diagnostic tool, detects mpox DNA in blood, saliva, or tissue samples, reinforcing the continent’s capacity to manage infectious disease threats.
Africa CDC’s endorsement comes three months after declaring mpox a public health emergency, with over 50,000 cases and around 1,100 deaths reported this year, primarily in Central Africa.
The continent accounts for the majority of global cases and fatalities from mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, a disease spread through animal-to-human and human-to-human contact, causing symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, and skin lesions.
The Africa CDC praised the development as a major milestone in the African Union’s ongoing commitment to bolstering public health self-sufficiency. Last month, the World Health Organisation approved Abbott’s Alinity m MPXV assay, a global mpox diagnostic tool.
