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Singapore Firm Sells 10-Minute Bird Flu Test Kit

Posted on: Friday, 11 November 2005, 05:55 CST

By Mia Shanley

SINGAPORE -- A Singapore company launched a new test kit on Friday which can detect the deadly avian flu virus in birds and humans in just 10 minutes.

The new test kits, sold by Singapore-based biotechnology firm Rockeby, could enable health officials to respond more rapidly to outbreaks of bird flu -- a crucial step since there are no vaccines or specific cures for the disease.

Asian governments fear the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus could spread to humans and cause a flu pandemic, killing millions of people and hitting global economic growth.

"We believe our products are the world's fastest rapid tests for detecting H5N1 in poultry and humans," Tan Sze Wee, Rockeby's managing director, told a news conference in Singapore.

Tan said that current tests on the market, which must be conducted in laboratories, can take anywhere from 11 hours to as long as two days.

The test kit for birds, which the company says is the world's first "in-the-field" diagnostic, samples blood, serum or feces for the H5N1 virus. A second kit screens for proteins specific to the H5N1 virus in samples taken from the human nose or throat.

"The focus so far has been on the treatment, on Tamiflu and developing vaccines. But I think equally important, especially looking at our own experience with SARS in Asia, is the surveillance," Tan said as he conducted tests on a live bird and a volunteer at the press briefing, using cotton swabs, a solution and small plastic droppers. Both had negative readings.

A World Health Organization spokesman told Reuters that it did not currently endorse any commercial products for detecting the bird flu virus and declined to comment on the new Rockeby test kits.

"There is a plan to standardize the testing internationally, but for now, we ask that samples are sent to our WHO reference labs," said Dick Thompson, spokesman in the communicable diseases section at the WHO in Geneva. Asia's main reference lab is in Hong Kong.

MUTATIONS

A highly pathogenic form of the H5N1 virus is endemic in poultry across Asia, where it has infected at least 124 people and killed 64 -- and where people often live in close proximity to domestic fowl. Experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that could pass easily to people, like human influenza, leading to millions of deaths.

The World Bank has warned that a flu pandemic lasting a year could cost the global economy up to $800 billion.

"The test kits have a high level of accuracy. They are sensitive and highly specific," Tan said, adding that it would be particularly useful in detecting the virus in ducks, as these domestic birds do not show symptoms of the disease.

Tan said Rockeby's test kits have already been approved by governments in Thailand, where the packages have been developed and manufactured, as well as Malaysia and Brunei.

The company has received requests for sample test kits from health or veterinary officials in the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Japan.

Rockeby's test kit for birds will be sold at about $6, compared with between $10 to $30 for other tests now on the market, Tan said. The company plans to sell its test kit for humans for between $10 to $12.

For some developing countries, it may still be cheaper to cull birds rather than test them. The World Bank's proposed $1 billion package for tackling bird flu could help poorer countries to pay for the test kits, Tan said.

Shares in Rockeby's, which is listed on the Australia stock exchange, more than tripled to A$0.038 this week on plans to launch the tests.

Source: REUTERS

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