The current Ebola outbreak is one of the deadliest in history ever since the virus was discovered in the late 1970s. Over 4,000 people had been dead, and the World Health Organization feared that cases might reach up to 10,000 per week, especially now that the virus has entered into developed nations such as the United States and Spain, where some health workers contracted the virus.
While many companies and institutions are doing their research and developing vaccines and drugs to combat the disease as soon as possible, a British company has developed a test kit that can quickly and accurately identify the presence of the virus.
Primerdesign Limited, created under the University of Southampton, announced on Friday, October 10, that they have developed a simple and quick diagnostic kit that can be used to fight the spread of the disease.
According to the company's managing director Dr Jim Wicks, time is of the essence when it comes to the virus. For a patient to have a higher chance of survival and to quickly control the disease, it's very important that the virus can be identified accurately and urgently.
How does the kit work? It is based on real-time PCR, which is also the same technology used for detecting 2009 swine flu.
It takes advantage of the unique structure of the Ebola virus. All types of viruses have their own genetic makeup, which explains why those such as Ebola can have different types of strains. Since the virus's DNA can be attached to the infected person's RNA, the test kit also looks into the RNA.
To test an individual, a health worker trained to handle Ebola extracts blood from the person. The blood is then processed to separate its RNA. Once the RNA has already been separated, it goes through a tube that contains the company's formulated ingredients. The tube then goes through a special machine, which analyzes the RNA sample and provides the result in less than 2 hours. Moreover, since it deals with the virus's DNA, it can be detected even when it's still in its earliest stages.
The simplicity of the kit and the quick results make it ideal for airport screening tests.
