New bird flu test

Researchers in Southeast Asia have developed a diagnostic kit that can detect all known H5N1 influenza strains ('bird flu') within a few hours with almost 100 percent accuracy, according to a press release by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), in Singapore, where the kit was designed. The real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, which is being distributed by AITbiotech, is reported to detect the more than 40 distinct strains of H5N1 that have been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO). The kit is currently being tested in several Southeast Asian hospitals.