Studies show that Cepheid GeneXpert Ebola assay performs well in diagnosing the Ebola virus during the field test. According to Nira Pollock, MD, PhD, an Associate Medical Director of Infectious Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory presentation at IDWeek. It is the result of using whole blood and buccal swab samples submitted for routine testing for the Ebola virus.
According to the Oral Abstract Session: Late Breaker Oral Abstract Session on Oct. 10, 2015, the researchers concluded that the Xpert Ebola Test had a great performance on the WB and BS samples in a field laboratory setting as compared to a more established RT-PCR benchmark, and the future studies should evaluate performance outside of a bio-containment laboratory setting to facilitate a greater access of testing.
Cepheid GeneXpert Ebola assay started from a $3.3 million funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Xpert Ebola test can diagnose Ebola in an hour or less using only blood or saliva samples from suspected patients. The test is handled by the Cepheid's GeneXpert molecular diagnostic system, which is already used for tuberculosis by developing countries.
Most of the Ebola test existing requires workers to take blood samples to the specialized laboratory for testing, and this can take several days to transport and diagnose. Some companies such as Quest Diagnostic and LabCorp said that they would no longer accept any blood samples from patients that are suspected of being positive with Ebola virus.
The Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River, which is now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The outbreak started to appear in most of the African continent. The Ebola epidemic becomes the largest in the history that affected a lot of countries specifically in West Africa in 2014, and four cases were reported in the United States of America.
