Rapid Test For Ebola Now Available

sciencehabit writes: The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the first rapid diagnostic test for Ebola. The test needs no electricity, requires just a few drops of blood from a finger prick, and can return results in 15 minutes. That will be a huge help to health workers in remote areas. Current PCR-based tests require a blood sample taken by needle, secure transport of the blood to a properly equipped laboratory with trained staff, and at least several hours to return results. Depending on how far away a suspected case is from a testing laboratory, it can take more than a day to receive test results.

Comments

Re:Of course

[afidel]

Yeah, or maybe it's because this outbreak killed more people than all previous outbreaks combined. For example this report from 2003 lists 128 total deaths in a remote area of the Congo, at the peak of this outbreak there were more people than that dying per day in Sierra Leone. It's pretty understandable that you don't spend billions on research and development for a drug that might be used on 40 people per year on average but would on a drug that can stop a global pandemic.

Impressed

[EthanBernard]

Assuming they were motivated by the recent epidemic, they created this marketable test in ~ 6 months. Bravo.