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Brazilian scientists design test to detect Zika in five hours

Xinhua, February 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Brazilian researchers have developed a molecular test that allows the presence of the Zika virus to be detected in a patient in just five hours, academic sources said Wednesday.

The University of Unicamp (Unicamp), in the southeast of Brazil, said the exam allows the Zika virus to be detected in blood, saliva and urine samples.

This research was led by experts from Unicamp, along with others from the University of Sao Paulo (USP) and the Sao Paulo State University (Unesp), and has succeeded thanks to information sent by Senegalese researchers who have also been fighting against Zika.

Starting next Monday, the exam results will be used to test samples from suspected Zika patients from the Campinas Clinical Hospital in the state of Sao Paulo.

Samples showing Zika positive will be sent to Brazilian laboratories studying the disease, so that the virus may be isolated and used in attempts to decode its genetic sequence. This will hopefully lead investigators on new paths to fight the disease.

The new test is likely to replace the two current ones used to diagnose Zika, which take several days.

Currently, Brazilian health authorities need up to five days to detect Zika in blood samples and up to eight days to do so in urine samples. Endi