INDIANAPOLIS — As monkeypox cases continue to increase, so too do the number of testing labs across the country. Now, the Hoosier State has it’s very own monkeypox testing lab.
The lab is located in downtown Indianapolis at the IU Health Pathology Laboratory. The lab will be able to test 500 samples a day, collected from all across Indiana. IU Health says the lab can grow with demand.
“Currently in the United States alone, there’s actually very few facilities out there that are able to process and handle Monkeypox specimens, and at this moment, IU Health in the only lab in the state of Indiana performing Monkeypox testing,” says Kenneth Gavina, IU Health Clinical Microbiologist.
On-site testing allows for results to be returned in 24-48 hours, as compared to some tests which take 8 to 14 days for results.
In a press release, IU Health detailed the following about monkeypox:
- Since May, Indiana has 162 reported cases of monkeypox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationally last week, there were an average of 337 new daily cases.
- Men who have sex with men have been disproportionately affected by the outbreak, but cases have also been reported among women and children. The disease spreads by skin-to-skin contact with an infected person.
- More than 1 million vials of a vaccine effective against monkeypox have been allocated to states and other local jurisdictions, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Monkeypox is part of the same family of viruses that causes smallpox. While similar to smallpox, monkeypox symptoms tend to be milder and the disease is rarely fatal.
Since May, Indiana has had more than 160 reported cases of monkeypox, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
