MOSCOW, October 19. /TASSS/. Russia has enough high-tech test kits to diagnose mpox, Russia’s sanitary watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.

"Russia has a sufficient number of Rospotrebnadzor-developed modern, high-tech test kits. These tests make it possible to effectively detect the mpox virus, including its new genetic variants, in the shortest possible time," it said.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare viral disease endemic to remote regions near tropical forests in Central and Western Africa. The first case of an animal transmitting the disease to humans was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. According to the WHO, this virus is usually transmitted to humans by wild animals, such as rodents and primates, while its secondary spread among humans is limited. Usually the lethality coefficient during mpox outbreaks ranges from 1% to 10% with the majority of fatalities affecting younger age groups.

Mpox is most often accompanied by a skin rash or mucosal lesions, which can last from two to four weeks. Additional symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.