Sonic Healthcare USA (Sonic) will begin testing for monkeypox using The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s orthopoxvirus test, which detects most non-smallpox related orthopoxviruses, including monkeypox.
“The ability of commercial laboratories to test for monkeypox is an important pillar in our comprehensive strategy to combat this disease,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., M.P.H. “This will not only increase testing capacity but also make it more convenient for providers and patients to access tests by using existing provider-to-laboratory networks.”
Sonic will offer this testing at Sonic Reference Laboratory in Austin, TX and can accept specimens through its network of clinical laboratories located across the United States. Sonic will continue to expand test capacity as needed while collaborating with the CDC’s Laboratory Response Network (LRN).
On June 22, HHS announced that five commercial laboratory companies would soon begin offering monkeypox testing. Since then, CDC has shipped the tests to the laboratories and their employees have been trained on their administration, among other steps. All commercial labs are now online, and combined with the CDC’s Laboratory Response Network, have increased testing capacity from 6,000 initially to up to 80,000 specimens per week.
