CHICAGO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The United States has beefed

up testing and surveillance for a new strain of mpox and has

ensured that vaccines are readily available at local pharmacies

and community health centers, senior administration officials

said in a briefing on Friday.

No cases of the more transmissible strain of the virus have

been confirmed in the United States, but experts are preparing

for that possibility following a World Health Organization

declaration last month of a global public health emergency, the

second such declaration in two years.

The new strain, called clade Ib, has caused a major surge in

cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has spilled

over to several neighboring countries. Travel-related cases have

been confirmed in both Sweden and Thailand.

In a briefing on Friday, senior U.S. administration

officials said any American doctor can now order an mpox test,

which can be processed through national laboratory chains.

Positive tests that are not the older strain of mpox will be

sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for

confirmation.

Health officials in Wayne County, Michigan, last month had

reported a new case of mpox, but additional testing showed that

it was from the older strain known as clade II, a county health

official told Reuters on Thursday.

Currently, the United States is continuing to see about

three cases a day of mpox from the clade II virus that caused a

public health emergency in 2022.

Officials said they have been working to make mpox vaccines

widely available through local pharmacies, noting that because

Bavarian Nordic's ( BVNKF ) Jynneos vaccine has been

commercialized, it should be covered by most insurance plans.

Vaccines can also be obtained through public health

departments and community health centers, irrespective of

insurance status, to encourage vaccination among individuals who

were most susceptible during the clade II outbreak in 2022:

mostly men and bisexual men who have sex with men, officials

said.

The U.S. government also has added testing for any form of

mpox to its wastewater surveillance system, and said there is

good coverage in most major cities. The government is working to

add clade I-specific testing.

The government has also been working on rapid tests, and

while such efforts have been challenging, an official said the

Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Tech program that

spurred production of COVID-19 tests has developed such a test,

which could be available in the coming months.

Mpox, which typically causes flu-like symptoms and

pus-filled lesions but can be deadly, spreads through close

contact, including through sex.