Evaluation of eleven commercially available PCR kits for the detection of Monkeypox virus DNA

Prior to the international spread of Monkeypox in May 2022, PCR kits for the detection of Orthopoxviruses, and specifically for monkeypox virus, were rarely available. Here we describe the evaluation of eleven recently-developed commercially available PCR kits for the detection of Monkeypox virus DNA. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This work was funded by the WHO Health Emergencies Programme ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: In this study we used DNA extracted from viruses propagated in cell culture in our lab. No primary samples were used in this study. The samples used for propagation were obtained from Prof. Dr. Meyer, IMB, München (clade I) or from retained samples from the primary diagnostics performed in our lab (clade II 2012: Radonić A, Metzger S, Dabrowski PW, Couacy-Hymann E, Schuenadel L, Kurth A, et al. Fatal monkeypox in wild-living sooty mangabey, Côte d'Ivoire, 2012. Emerg Infect Dis. 2014;20(6):1009-11., clade II 2022). For the further use of primary samples we have an ethical approval from the Berliner Ärztekammer Eth-44/22 I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors