Roche Develops Test Kits to Detect Monkeypox Virus

Test tube labelled "Monkeypox virus positive" is seen in this illustration taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
Test tube labelled "Monkeypox virus positive" is seen in this illustration taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
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Roche Develops Test Kits to Detect Monkeypox Virus

Test tube labelled "Monkeypox virus positive" is seen in this illustration taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
Test tube labelled "Monkeypox virus positive" is seen in this illustration taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)

Roche on Wednesday said the company and its unit have developed three test kits to detect the monkeypox virus, as the disease spreads in regions outside Africa, where the virus is not normally found.

There have been more than 200 suspected or confirmed cases in Europe and North America of monkeypox, according to the World Health Organization.

The Swiss company said one of the three LightMix Modular Virus kits detects orthopoxviruses, the biological grouping which includes viruses associated with monkeypox as well as smallpox and cowpox.

The second test detects only monkeypox viruses, specifically the West African and Central African strains. The third is for researchers and detects both orthopoxviruses and the monkeypox virus.



Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
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Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Syria’s minister of emergencies and disaster management on Tuesday requested support from the European Union to battle wildfires that have swept through a vast stretch of forested land.

The fires have been burning for six days, with Syrian emergency crews struggling to bring them under control amid strong winds and severe drought.

Neighboring countries Jordan, Lebanon and Türkiye have already dispatched firefighting teams to assist in the response.

“We asked the European Union for help in extinguishing the fires,” minister Raed al-Saleh said on X, adding Cyprus was expected to send aid on Tuesday, AFP reported.

“Fear of the fires spreading due to strong winds last night prompted us to evacuate 25 families to ensure their safety without any human casualties,” he added.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) office in Syria, the fires impacted “some 5,000 persons, including displacements, across 60 communities.”

An estimated 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of forest and farmland -- more than three percent of Syria’s forest cover -- have burned, OCHA told AFP.

At least seven towns in Latakia province have been evacuated as a precaution.

Efforts to extinguish the fires have been hindered by “rugged terrain, the absence of firebreaks, strong winds, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance”, Saleh said.

With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.

In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years.”