The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that it had approved the first diagnostic test for mpox.

The disease, which can be deadly and was previously known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals.

It can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact and when infected, the symptoms include fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.

"The approval for emergency use" of the test "will be pivotal in expanding diagnostic capacity in countries facing mpox outbreaks, where the need for quick and accurate testing has risen sharply", the WHO said in a statement.

If more people are tested for the virus, measures to contain its spread can be implemented more quickly, the WHO said.

Over 800 people have died from mpox across Africa, with more than 30,000 cases reported. 

According to the African Union's disease control center, the disease has been detected in 16 countries. The outbreak has been most crippling in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

How does the test work?

Following WHO approval, UN agencies will purchase the test from the US company that developed it, Abbott Molecular, and will then distribute it to the affected countries and regions.

The test would allow health workers to detect the mpox virus faster and more easily.

Dubbed the Alinity m MPXV assay, the test enables the detection of the mpox virus from swabs taken from human lesions.

"By detecting DNA from pustular or vesicular rash samples, laboratory and health workers can confirm suspected mpox cases efficiently and effectively," the WHO said.

Abbott Molecular describes the test as a "continuous and random-access molecular analyzer with a time-to-first result of less than 115 minutes."

"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," said Yukiko Nakatani, a WHO assistant director-general of WHO.

The test's release comes as the disease continues to spread across countries in Africa. Ghana on Thursday was the latest country to confirm the presence of the virus in its territory, with one confirmed case and 230 suspected cases.

jcg/sms (AFP, dpa)