‘Testing bottleneck’ for monkeypox puts hope of containment at risk, experts warn

“Every single day that we’re not fixing the testing bottleneck ... is time that we are losing in terms of that window closing on containment,” a monkeypox expert says.

Infectious disease specialists are growing increasingly concerned by the U.S. strategy for testing for monkeypox, warning that it’s creating a bottleneck and squandering the limited time the country may have to get the outbreak under control.

Under the current system, specimens must be sent to one of 74 laboratories across the country before being sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts who spoke with STAT argue the United States should be testing more broadly for monkeypox, allowing more labs to become part of the process.

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