KAMPALA—
Researchers in Uganda say they have developed a new Ebola test kit
that detects the virus in minutes. Current tests for Ebola take anywhere
from several hours to several days. The development is a potential
milestone in the fight against the deadly virus.According to researchers at Makarere University in Kampala, the
new test can detect the virus already in the early stages of exposure.
Misaki Wanyengera, leader of the research group, says the test may
be able to prevent future outbreaks like the one in West Africa that killed
more than 11,000 people.“We want a test that can run through the whole spectrum of
infection. We don’t want a scenario where this gentleman, I forgot his
name, from Liberia, gets on a plane and finally ends up in Texas," he
said. "By the time someone develops temperature problems they’re already
past 21 days of infection. So the test we’re developing should be able to
capture people even before they develop their symptoms - you know the fever,
the bleeding.”
The accuracy of the test has been verified by Grant Challenges
Canada, a Canadian government-funded program that promotes health projects in
low-income countries. The organization partially funded the research that
developed the new test.Babirye Janet Peace, a lab technologist who was part of the rapid
test kit's development, says it is very easy to use.“It has a capturing antibody and then you bring in your sample and
then you bring in your detecting antibody and the substrate to be able to
visualize the reaction in the case there’s one," she said.
So with one drop of blood on a small piece of paper, medical
workers will be able to detect if someone has Ebola within hours of initial
exposure.One of the biggest challenges with Ebola is that the virus is
highly infectious. And with current methods, medical staff often need a
laboratory and must carry out elaborate tests. This often proved quite
challenging with the virus surfacing in remote forest villages.
Wanyengera says this new test breaks down these barriers.“The first index cases that happen for Ebola outbreaks in
Equatorial Africa, they happen in remote settings, village settings where there
are no laboratories," he said. "So in the remote setting you need
what we call a point of care test. A point of care test is something which can
be done at the point of care outside the laboratory setting. It’s easy to use.
You don’t need a lot of technical training.” 
It has taken years to develop the new test kit. Initial steps were taken in
2007, after previous, smaller outbreaks in Uganda.One of the main challenges for the project was finding sufficient
funding. But with the major epidemic in West Africa, donors were more willing
to step in and fund the project.Wayengera says profit can not be the driving factor when
developing medical projects that can save lives.
“The model for funding interventions for diseases like Ebola must
change. If you leave it only to the pharmaceuticals they’ll not deliver,
because the pharmaceutical is only interested in profit," he said.
"If I’m producing a kit that is running cheap, under $5 , ultimately how
do I sustain it’s production in the sense that the people who’re involved in
the production, how do I keep paying them so that this is sustained?”A Uganda firm is currently developing the final test kits from the
prototypes. The team is expected to roll out the new rapid test kits in about
eight months
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