MORE than 30,000 suspected mpox cases have been reported across Africa this year, but fewer than half have been confirmed through a test.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved the first diagnostic test for the disease where the results can be immediately known, saying that could prove pivotal in helping to stop the rise in the number of global cases of the deadly virus.

The new PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test enables the detection of the mpox DNA taken from skin lesion swabs.

Currently, samples have to be sent to a laboratory for testing and the patient and medics have to wait days for the result.

Limited testing capacity and delays in confirming cases continue to be a challenge in Africa, worsening the spread of a disease previously known as monkeypox.

WHO says barely 40 per cent of the 30,000-plus suspected cases reported in Africa this year have been confirmed through a test.

Yukiko Nakatani, WHO’s assistant director-general, described the new diagnostic test as “a significant milestone”.

“Increasing access to quality-assured medical products is central to our efforts in assisting countries to contain the spread of the virus and protect their people, especially in underserved regions,” she said.

The breakthrough comes as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the highest number of cases has been reported, prepares to begin an mpox vaccination programme today.

Mpox, a highly contagious disease, has killed at least 635 people in that country this year.

In August, WHO declared the outbreak of the virus a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following a rise in cases in DR Congo and its spread to neighbouring Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda.

Some Western countries have donated doses of mpox vaccines to combat the outbreak of the disease in Africa but reports say that more are urgently needed.

Rwanda, which was the first to administer mpox vaccines in Africa last month, was set to receive 5,000 more doses yesterday, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

In Nigeria, a vaccination drive against the virus is set to be rolled out next Tuesday, the Africa CDC said.

It said that frontline healthcare workers and close contacts of infected patients are set to be given priority in DR Congo, which has 200,000 vaccines donated by the European Commission.