The WHO has assessed and listed the ReEBOV Antigen Rapid Test Kit, developed by Corgenix Medical Corporation, as eligible for procurement to Ebola affected countries. The test was evaluated under WHO's Emergency Assessment and Use, a procedure established to provide a minimum quality, safety and performance assurance for diagnostic products in the context of the Ebola emergency.

"This test is easy to use and perform, it does not require electricity, and can give results within 15 minutes," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasaravic said.

However, procurement and roll-out of the test kits will not begin immediately since the US company is still working out the test's costs and needs a week or two more to finish administrative procedures with the US Food and Drug Administration, Jasarevic said.

Ebola is currently being tested in laboratories largely through the detection of the virus's nucleic acid (genetic material), using commercial or in-house tests. Nucleic acid tests (NATs) are more accurate but are complex to use and require well-established laboratories and trained personnel, the WHO pointed out in its press release.

Where possible, results from ReEBOV Antigen Rapid Test Kit should be confirmed by testing a new blood sample using an approved Ebola NAT.

More than 23,000 people, mainly in West Africa, have been infected in the outbreak and 9,300 have died.

jil/sms (Reuters, WHO)