Sunday Times 2
British-led scientists trial 15-minute Ebola test in Guinea
View(s):CONAKRY, Nov 29 (AFP) -British scientists announced trials on a 15-minute Ebola test in Guinea as French President Francois Hollande became the first Western leader to visit a country devastated by the epidemic.
The prototype is six times faster than current tests and aims to speed up diagnosis, the London-based global research charity Wellcome Trust and Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) said in a statement.
“A reliable, 15-minute test that can confirm cases of Ebola would be a key tool for effective management of the Ebola outbreak, allowing patients to be identified, isolated and cared for as soon as possible,” said Val Snewin of the Wellcome Trust.
She said the test was designed to be suitable for remote field hospitals where electricity and cold storage are often scarce.
The trials, to be led by researchers from Dakar’s Pasteur Institute at an Ebola treatment centre in Conakry in the coming weeks, will come as a welcome boon in Guinea which has lost 1,200 people to Ebola.