On May 25, 2022, Roche and its subsidiary TIB Molbiol announced they had developed three unique LightMix Modular Virus kits in response to recent mpox virus concerns. Multiple clusters of the monkeypox virus have been reported within the past two weeks in several European countries and North America, which are regions where the virus is not normally found.

The first LightMix Modular Virus kit detects orthopoxviruses, including all mpox viruses from both the West African and Central African forms of the virus (referred to as clades).The second kit is a specific test detecting monkeypox viruses only (West African and Central African clade). For researchers interested in obtaining both of these results, a third kit is available that simultaneously detects orthopoxviruses plus provides information on whether a mpox virus is present or not (West African and Central African clade). The test kits are available for research use in the majority of countries worldwide.

Mpox was first detected in laboratory monkeys in 1958. The virus is, however, assumed to transmit from wild animals such as rodents to people — or from human to human. In an average year, a few thousand cases occur in Western and Central Africa. But cases outside Africa have been limited to just a handful that are associated with travel to Africa or with the importation of infected animals. Treatments and vaccines that were developed for smallpox are available and are thought to be useful to limit spreading of Mpox.