Mayo Clinic Labs begins testing for monkeypox

Mayo Clinic is ramping up its response to the monkeypox outbreak.

Beginning on Monday, Mayo Clinic Laboratories will begin testing for the viral infection using the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s test kit, which can detect most non-smallpox related orthopoxviruses, including monkeypox.

The testing of specimens from across the U.S. will be conducted at Mayo’s Division of Clinical Microbiology laboratories in Rochester. Mayo Labs plans to start by performing up to 10,000 tests per week, with the ability to increase capacity later if needed.

Mayo Clinic Labs joins four other companies participating in the Biden administration’s testing strategy, first announced in June; the others are Aegis Science, Labcorp, Quest Diagnostics, and Sonic Healthcare.

"Our teams have worked collaboratively with the CDC to validate this test to provide patients with accurate and timely answers," said Dr. William Morice II, president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories. "Access to testing is vital to combat infectious diseases to ensure patients are reducing the spread of the illness and receiving the treatments they need."

There have been 790 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the U.S., though experts believe the actual number is much higher. Nine confirmed cases have been reported in Minnesota, according to the state Department of Health.

As of July 1, all Minnesotans with confirmed cases had a history of travel or direct contact with someone who traveled recently. However, MDH officials cautioned that community spread could be identified soon.

“It’s clear that monkeypox has come to Minnesota,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Ruth Lynfield. “While our current cases are associated with travel outside Minnesota, we expect we will soon see cases among people that have no travel history or contact with someone who did, indicating that spread within social networks in Minnesota is occurring.”

Monkeypox, which can be transmitted from animals to humans, is already endemic in several central and west African countries. However, in recent months, community transmission has been on the rise in a number of places where reports of the viral disease were previously rare to non-existent, including the Americas, Europe, and eastern Asia.

While there is no definitive conclusion on how people are being exposed, early data from the CDC suggests that men who have sex with men make up a “high number of cases.” However, the CDC warns that anyone who has been in close contact with someone with monkeypox is at risk.

Early symptoms of monkeypox, according to MDH, include a fever, headache, sore throat, swollen glands and fatigue, followed by a rash or, in some cases, sores on the tongue or in the mouth.

The virus is less infectious than some other diseases like Covid-19, measles, or chickenpox, but can spread easily through close contact, typically skin-to-skin contact with rash, scabs, or body fluids; or contact with materials that have been contaminated with the virus, such as clothing or bedding.

Cover photo: File / Mayo Clinic Labs