New bird flu test developed

RESEARCHERS have developed a new test that can detect bird flu in humans within hours, compared to up to a week or more for older tests.

Early diagnosis is crucial to controlling bird flu outbreaks, and the new test makes that possible by producing results in one or two hours, the project’s patron, the Li Ka Shing Foundation, said in a statement today.

The old tests take so long that infected people may be dead before results are available, said Guan Yi, a Hong Kong-based researcher who worked on the new test.

The new test detects antigens and antibodies to the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain, as opposed to examining the virus directly by isolating it.