August 30, 2006

US develops 12-hour H5N1 diagnosis kit

The University of Colorado in conjunction with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a diagnosis kit that would be able to identify the presence of H5N1 virus in 12 hours.

The normal process currently takes about a week.

The test involves a microchip called FluChip that contains genetic material, DNA and RNA, from various flu viruses.

It is an improvement over another four-hour test version as it can not only give a positive or negative diagnosis but also identify the type and subtype of the strain, including its geographic origin with an accuracy of 72 percent.

Since the disease can be detected faster with the test kit, it would enable a faster response from authorities to deal with the outbreak.

The test allows testing to be done based on genetic material instead of a live virus, allowing it to be done in a low security lab instead of a high security one currently required.