FDA approves rapid test for avian flu A/H5N1 in humans

The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing a new, more rapid test for the detection of influenza A/H5N1, a disease-causing  subtype of the avian influenza A virus that can infect humans.

AVantage A/H5N1 Flu Test, which is made by US firm Abor Vita, detects  influenza A/H5N1 in throat or nose swabs collected from patients who  have flu-like symptoms.

The test identifies in less than 40 minutes a specific protein (NS1)  that indicates the presence of the influenza A/H5N1 virus subtype.  Previous tests cleared by the FDA to detect this subtype can take three  or four hours to produce results.