Japan creates 30-minute Ebola test: report

Japanese scientists have developed a new test for the Ebola virus that can detect the disease within 30 minutes using simple equipment, the Nikkei business daily reported late Monday. Eiken Chemical Co. ...and researchers at Nagasaki University created the new test, which can be conducted using only a small, battery-powered warmer, making it ideal for places without stable power sources... The current test takes one to two hours and "requires dedicated equipment and a stable supply of electricity, making it difficult to use in regions with poor power infrastructure..."

Japan creates 30-minute Ebola test: report

If this test is accurate and if it can be made widely available and can be done by medical personnel at any medical facility (or at least any hospital), this should really help in dealing with the current Ebola outbreak(s).

Currently, most health facilities have to send off a sample to a central lab for testing. So although the article says the current test takes 1-2 hours, the reality is that it normally takes days to get results. If doctors could get 30 minute test results without having to send samples to a remote lab, this would almost certainly save lives.

Just reading about the long wait was causing me stress. I'm surprised no one waiting died of a heart attack!!

a reply to: ikonoklast

Good find. F&S& ....but supposedly USAMRIID and the VHFC researching viral hemorrhagic fevers in Sierra Leone and Nigeria were supposed to come up with better-faster tests. What happened there?

a reply to: ikonoklast

When does it start shipping to Walmart so us Americans can buy it?

In all seriousness, how come they can't come up with technology like this for everything else germ/virus related?

a reply to: soficrow

Not sure what happened with any promised better-faster tests from USAMRIID or the VHFC.


a reply to: OptimusCrime

Not sure why they can't (or at least haven't) come up with such tests for other viruses or germs. But I'll bet they would sell a lot of these at WalMart.

Strangely, the stock of the company that made the announcement went down after the announcement. Not sure why, unless it was considered a confirmation of how big the Ebola outbreak(s) would get.

Glad to see Japan one step ahead of the ball. But I can't help but feel that instead of Ebola testing they should be figuring out how to contain Fukushima as a matter of priority instead. That has the potential to be deadlier than a potential Ebola outbreak for the world.