Portable test for bird flu promises to save many lives

An easily portable device which tests for bird flu in humans promises to save lives by cutting the time it takes to spot potentially lethal cases down to a few hours.

The groundbreaking research will enable a rapid diagnosis of bird flu including the deadly H5N1 strain and could help contain dangerous pandemic forms of the virus.

The test is being developed with the help of Nottingham Trent University experts from the School of Science and Technology, as part of a European project to create portable machines capable of identifying the disease instantly.

The Portfastflu project could cut the current diagnosis time from up to a week to just two hours by using a swab containing saliva from humans or a tissue sample from animals.

When passed through the machine, a molecular recognition of the virus strains occurs which identifies the presence of influenza, and even the type or subtype of strain, which eliminates the need for samples to be sent to a testing laboratory.

Indonesia has experienced an 81% death rate among people with the H5N1 strain but survival chances are greatly increased the earlier it is treated.

As the technology will be able to identify both human and animal influenza, it could prove to be a vital tool in the fight against bird flu, making it possible to set up exclusion zones and cull infected birds much faster, before infection spreads.

As no definitive vaccine to treat the virus exists, preventative measures are crucial.

To date as a result of the spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, tens of millions of birds have died or been slaughtered and 243 people have died.

The disease which is transmitted among birds and from birds to other animals through ingestion and inhalation, has spread across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Although the H5N1 strain of the virus does not pass easily from birds to humans, experts believe it is only a matter of time before the virus mutates into a form easily passed from human to human, with the potential of triggering a pandemic which could result in anything between two million and fifty million deaths worldwide.

The new tool would allow fast, on-the-spot screening of those sickened and distinguish those carrying deadly strains.

The research team from universities, research organisations and businesses, is being led by the French company Genewave who are developing two machines, one briefcase-sized for use by veterinary surgeons or doctors out in the field, and a larger, table-top one for GPs and hospitals.

According to Dr. Alan McNally, an expert in molecular biology at Nottingham Trent University, and a former avian flu researcher for the Government, currently influenza immunity relates only to specific strains and simply does not exist in the event of a new pandemic outbreak.

Dr. McNally says the ongoing outbreaks and spread of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus in poultry and wild birds have led to fears that a subtype that is transmissible from human to human could emerge and the ability to detect and type influenza virus immediately is essential.

Partners in the £2.3m Portfastflu research project which is being funded by the European Union, include: Nottingham Trent University (UK) Genewave (Co-ordinator, France) Biosensia (Ireland) Cirad (France) VIB (Belgium) Ikerlan (Spain) Gaiker (Spain) and the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research (Spain).