Mpox Virus (MPV) Antigen test

Monkeypox virus (MPV) is a rare viral infectious disease similar to human smallpox caused by monkeypox virus, and it is also a zoonotic disease. Mainly found in the tropical rain forests of central and western Africa. The main route of transmission is animal-to-human transmission. People are infected with the disease by being bitten by infected animals or by direct contact with the blood and body fluids of infected animals. The Monkeypox virus is a high fatality rate virus, so the early screening test is very important to control the Monkeypox virus spread.

Monkeypox virus (MPXV), which can cause monkeypox (MPX), is a zoonotic enveloped dsDNA virus that belongs to the orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. Monkeypox virus was first found in laboratory monkeys in 1958 and the first case of that monkeypox virus infecting humans was identified in 1970. Human Monkeypox virus infection was thought to be endemic in West and Central Africa. Cases from non-endemic countries were seldom identified. But the number of cases detected from 13th May to 21st May 2022 from 12 countries has surpassed the total number identified outside Africa since 1970. Unlike other outbreaks outside Africa before, such as USA in 2003 and Nigeria in 2017, these cases have no established travel links to an endemic area. This rapid spread has raised awareness among scientists.

There are two clades of the Monkeypox virus, the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade. The West African clade is associated with the milder clinical presentation while the Congo Basin clade is more pathogenic and associated with greater human-to-human transmission. Human infections with the Monkeypox virus have similar clinical signs to smallpox but in a less severe form. The fatality rate of each clade is 0-6% and 8-13%. Cases detected in May were identified as being infected with the West African clade.

The smallpox vaccine, to some extent, can protect people from infecting with MPXV. Antiviral treatment of accidental smallpox can also be applied to treat MPXV infection. But Smallpox has been eradicated for decades, these treatments cannot be applied on a large scale to treat monkeypox. We still need to do more research on monkeypox virus.

For professional medical institutions use only, not for self-testing.