Portable molecular diagnostic platform for rapid point-of-care detection of mpox and other diseases
The World Health Organization's designation of mpox as a public health emergency of international concern in August 2024 underscores the urgent need for effective diagnostic solutions to combat this escalating threat. The rapid global spread of clade II mpox, coupled with the sustained human-to-human transmission of the more virulent clade I mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo, highlights a critical gap in point-of-care diagnostics for this emergent disease. In response, we developed Dragonfly, a portable molecular diagnostic platform for point-of-care use that integrates power-free nucleic acid extraction (<5 minutes) with lyophilised colourimetric LAMP chemistry. The platform demonstrated an analytical limit-of-detection of 100 genome copies per reaction for monkeypox virus, effectively distinguishing it from other orthopoxviruses, herpes simplex virus, and varicella-zoster virus. Clinical validation on 164 samples, including 51 mpox-positive cases, yielded 96.1% sensitivity and 100% specificity for orthopoxviruses, and 94.1% sensitivity and 100% specificity for monkeypox virus. Here, we present a rapid, accessible, and robust point-of-care diagnostic solution for mpox, suitable for both low- and high-resource settings, addressing the global resurgence of orthopoxviruses in the context of declining smallpox immunity.
Authors
- Isobel Stokes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1833-2754)
- Shiranee Sriskandan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5214-4941)
- Katarzyna M. Szostak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9565-6816)
- Katerina-Theresa Mantikas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5065-9108)
- Lucy Eke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5325-1782)
- Jesús Rodríguez-Manzano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2583-8366)
- Marcus Pond (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6267-7960)
- Ivana Pennisi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2199-8530)
- Alison Holmes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5554-5743)
- Luca Miglietta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6652-4785)
- Oliver W. Stringer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9345-5642)
- Nicolas Moser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6689-0486)
- David Ulaeto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7493-3159)
- Frances Bolt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6201-1149)
- Sian Lant (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7764-3520)
- Pantelis Georgiou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2476-3857)
- Rebecca P. Sumner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0735-8649)
- Kenny Malpartida-Cardenas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3874-8810)
- Carlos Maluquer de Motes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4712-4601)
- Matthew L. Cavuto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6104-6083)
- Mark Comer
- Sohail Mirza
Institutions
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (GB)
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (GB)
- University of Surrey (GB)
- Proton (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Imperial College London (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-03-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57647-3
- Citations
- 21
- Primary Topic
- Poxvirus research and outbreaks
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 21.76
Funders
- Wellcome
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Medical Research Council
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council