February 7, 2006

New bird flu test receives approval in the US
 

Soon, people who suspect they have the bird flu may be able to find out for sure in four hours instead of the current two to three days.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new test designed to diagnose the H5 strain of the bird flu virus. The test, designed by scientists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is to be used as a preliminary diagnostic tool.

The CDC is distributing testing kits to the 140 laboratories in the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) spread over all 50 US states. The test kits will also be sent to the World Health Organisation and its centres worldwide.

Results of tests will be used to track cases of the H5 strain of the bird flu virus. The test can be used on patients with severe respiratory illness who had been exposed to infected birds in countries with confirmed outbreaks of the H5N1 virus.