WHO Approves The First 15-Minute Ebola Test

The World Health Organization has made a record breakthrough declaration. The first quick test for ebola has been approved.

There should be a method to permit patients to be "identified, isolated and cared for" as quickly as possible, in order to lead to an end of the epidemic that has killed over 9,300 people, according to bbc.com.

Although the new test may not be as accurate as conventional ones, it takes only a few minutes to arrive at a result, rather than hours.

As the test works without electricity, it can be used in far-off regions too.

At present, ebola testing needs a laboratory to analyse the blood for fragments of the virus' genetic material. It may take between 12 to 24 hours to arrive at a definite answer.

Called the ReEBOV Antigen Rapid Test, developed by US company Corgenix, the test searches the blood for a different part of the virus. Experiments conducted in West Africa show that it can accurately identify about 92% of ebola victims.

The World Health Organization said: "While less accurate, the antigen test is rapid, easy to perform and does not require electricity.

"It can therefore be used at lower health care facilities or in mobile units for patients in remote settings."

Once confirmed, the test should be double tested through the more precise conventional testing.

The WHO assessed the product under its Emergency Assessment and Use procedure, trying to give "minimum quality, safety and performance assurances" according to voanews.com.

Robyn Meurant, from the WHO's department of essential medicines and health products said: "The big fear has been that the market gets flooded with tests of unknown quality, or unknown performance, and with Ebola you need to know what are the limitations. A false negative has enormous implications. So does a false positive," she said.

"So this is not a perfect test but... for a rapid test, (it is) not too bad at all. If you had five patients with suspected symptoms and you went ahead and tested them and they were all positive you'd have a high degree of confidence that you've got Ebola," according to reuters.com.

However, due to the margin of error, the test has to be followed up by standard laboratory tests.

Due to 128 new cases of ebola in three countries---Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea last week, extra precautions need to be taken.

So far, more than 23,250 people have been infected in the outbreak and 9,380 have died.