Ebola test offering 15-minute results on trial in Guinea
A 15-minute blood and saliva test for Ebola is to be trialled in Guinea, the BBC reported.
The solar-powered, portable laboratory should deliver results six times faster than tests currently used in West Africa.
The researchers involved say faster diagnosis would increase the chances of survival and reduce transmission of the virus.
The trial will take place at an Ebola treatment centre in Conakry, Guinea.
Ebola is currently diagnosed by hunting for the virus's genetic material in the blood of a patient.
But it requires dedicated laboratories that can keep the components of the test at very low temperatures.
Patients in Conakry will still have the proven test, but the new faster method will be trialled at the same time so the results can be compared.
The project, led by the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal, uses a 'mobile suitcase laboratory.’
It is portable, solar-powered and can be used at room temperature.