Roche has created three PCR test kits to detect Monkeypox

Roche Holding has created3 PCR test kits to aid scientists find the monkeypox virus, providing another screening tool to public health officials as they work to control the outbreak.

The Swiss multinational healthcare company Roche has announced the development of three PCR test kits in collaboration with its holding company TIB Molbiol to assist scientists in their search for the monkeypox virus. According to a Roche statement, the tests aims to aid traceability and will be obtainable in the majority of countries.

Monkeypox has recently been reported in a number of North American and European countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and France. Since the first reports of Monkeypox in Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Austria in early May, global health workers have recorded over 230 confirmed and suspected cases in nineteen countries.

The ability to quickly identify cases so that contacts of those who have become ill can be separated to prevent the disease from spreading further is an important containment measure.

"In a very short period of time, Roche has invented a set of tests that identify the monkeypox virus and help in tracking its epidemiologic spread," said Thomas Schinecker, CEO of Roche Diagnostics. "Diagnostic tests are critical for responding to, and controlling, developing public health challenges," added Schinecker.

What we recognise so far about PCR test kits, treatments, and symptoms is as follows.

According to Roche, one of it's kits can only detect monkeypox, while the other two can identify other orthopoxviruses, which include both smallpox and monkeypox. The original LightMix Modular Virus kit helps to detect both West and Central African orthopoxviruses, as well as all monkeypox viruses (known as clades)

The 2nd kit contains only a test for identifying monkeypox viruses (Central African and West African clade). The third kit detects both orthopoxviruses and the presence of monkeypox virus (Central African and West African clade).

The kits employ the quantitative PCR technique (qPCR). To begin, collect a sample using a well-known NA extraction technique. After that, the test is performed on a LightCycler® 480 II Instrument or a cobas z 480 Analyzer.

The majority of monkeypox patients report only fever, muscle aches, chills, and fatigue. Serious illnesses can result in a rash and lesions on hands and face, which can spread to other body parts. Monkeypox rash typically begins from face, or mouth, and spreads to the legs and arms,feet and hands, and torso of the body.

Monkeypox involves close body contact to spread, according to WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan, rave parties may have fostered the spread of infections. Because the viruses are so similar, the World Health Organization reports that smallpox vaccines from the first era are 85 percent helpful in stopping monkeypox.

In the majority of nations around the world, these test kits are available for use in research.