Faster avian flu test boosts vaccine efficacy

Researchers at the UK's Nottingham Trent University's School of Science and Technology have teamed up with universities, research organizations and businesses, led by France-based Genewave, to develop a portable testing kit to boost the chances of survival of avian influenza patients. As part of the 3.0 million-euro ($4.5 million) European Union-funded Portfastflu project, the portable kit has been tested in Indonesia, allowing a single swab of saliva to be analyzed within two hours, as opposed to the week it generally takes at present to determine whether someone has contracted the H5N1 strain of the disease.

Indonesia is the worst-affected country in terms of human cases of H5N1 bird flu, with 135 of the World Health Organization's 385 confirmed incidents. In addition, the death rate from the virus in that country is among the highest recorded, at 81.5%, or 110 fatalities, compared with 133 deaths in the rest of world, where the mortality rate is 53.2%. An estimated 300 million birds have either died of the disease or been slaughtered in prophylatic measures to combat its spread.

Humans typically catch the virus by coming into contact with sick birds, but if a strain gained the ability to pass easily between humans the results could be catastrophic, with experts predicting anything between two million and 50 million deaths worldwide.