The Ebola virus, isolated in November 2014 from patient blood samples obtained in Mali. The virus was isolated on Vero cells in a BSL-4 suite at Rocky Mountain Laboratories. Credit: NIAID
A Japanese research team said Thursday it had developed a field test for Ebola that gives results in just over 11 minutes—down from the 90-minute test used now.
The breakthrough by Nagasaki University's Institute of Tropical Medicine will allow medics to move much more quickly in treating people with the haemorrhagic fever, Professor Jiro Yasuda told AFP.
"The result time was unexpectedly short," said Yasuda of the trial conducted in Guinea last month on 100 samples, of which 47 proved positive.
The Guinean government has now asked the institute and its collaboration partner Toshiba to supply equipment to roll out the test, he added.
The test hinges on what the researchers have called a "primer", a substance that amplifies only those genes specific to the Ebola virus found in a blood sample or other bodily fluid.
Using existing techniques, ribonucleic acid (RNA)—biological molecules used in the coding of genes—is extracted from any viruses present in a sample.
This is then used to synthesise the viral DNA, which can be mixed with the primer and then heated to 60-65 degrees Celsius (140-149 Fahrenheit).
If Ebola is present, DNA specific to the virus is amplified by the action of the primers. The by-products from the process cause the liquid to become cloudy, providing visual confirmation, Yasuda said.
Currently, a method called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is used to detect the Ebola virus. This requires doctors to heat and cool samples repeatedly and takes at least 90 minutes, sometimes up to two hours.
The Ebola virus, transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, has killed more than 10,000 people in western Africa since it re-emerged in December 2013.
Explore further: Japanese researchers develop 30-minute Ebola test
© 2015 AFP
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The Ebola virus, isolated in November 2014 from patient blood samples obtained in Mali. The virus was isolated on Vero cells in a BSL-4 suite at Rocky Mountain Laboratories. Credit: NIAID
A Japanese research team said Thursday it had developed a field test for Ebola that gives results in just over 11 minutes—down from the 90-minute test used now.
The breakthrough by Nagasaki University's Institute of Tropical Medicine will allow medics to move much more quickly in treating people with the haemorrhagic fever, Professor Jiro Yasuda told AFP.
"The result time was unexpectedly short," said Yasuda of the trial conducted in Guinea last month on 100 samples, of which 47 proved positive.
The Guinean government has now asked the institute and its collaboration partner Toshiba to supply equipment to roll out the test, he added.
The test hinges on what the researchers have called a "primer", a substance that amplifies only those genes specific to the Ebola virus found in a blood sample or other bodily fluid.
Using existing techniques, ribonucleic acid (RNA)—biological molecules used in the coding of genes—is extracted from any viruses present in a sample.
This is then used to synthesise the viral DNA, which can be mixed with the primer and then heated to 60-65 degrees Celsius (140-149 Fahrenheit).
If Ebola is present, DNA specific to the virus is amplified by the action of the primers. The by-products from the process cause the liquid to become cloudy, providing visual confirmation, Yasuda said.
Currently, a method called polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, is used to detect the Ebola virus. This requires doctors to heat and cool samples repeatedly and takes at least 90 minutes, sometimes up to two hours.
The Ebola virus, transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, has killed more than 10,000 people in western Africa since it re-emerged in December 2013.
Explore further: Japanese researchers develop 30-minute Ebola test
© 2015 AFP
Medical Xpress on facebook
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Japanese researchers said Tuesday they had developed a new method to detect the presence of the Ebola virus in 30 minutes, with technology that could allow doctors to quickly diagnose infection.
Baby dies of Ebola in SLeone area where outbreak started
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SLeone says report of Ebola returning in east 'mistaken'
Sierra Leone said on Tuesday it had wrongly reported Ebola as the cause of a baby's death in a part of west African country which had been declared free of the virus weeks ago.
WHO gives green light to 15-minute Ebola test
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Friday it had approved a 15-minute test for Ebola that should prove a fast and rugged tool in countries hit by the disease.
Ebola virus has mutated less than scientists feared, study finds
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