Houston hospitals develop rapid Zika test

Scientists at Houston Methodist and Texas Children's hospitals have developed the nation's first hospital-based rapid test for the Zika virus. See the fact and the fiction surrounding the virus. Scientists at Houston Methodist and Texas Children's hospitals have developed the nation's first hospital-based rapid test for the Zika virus. See the fact and the fiction surrounding the virus. Photo: Leo Correa, AP Photo: Leo Correa, AP Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Houston hospitals develop rapid Zika test 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

Scientists at Houston Methodist and Texas Children's hospitals have developed the nation's first hospital-based rapid test for the Zika virus, potentially cutting the diagnosis time from a month to as little as a day.

The test can detect the genetic material of the virus from blood, amniotic fluid, spinal fluid or urine using the same technology used to detect many other viruses and bacteria. Initially, the hospitals will make the test available only to their own patients, but they are talking to other facilities about the possibility of testing outside patients.

"We really pulled out all the stops to get this test generated," said Dr. James Musser, chair of the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine at Houston Methodist. "We desperately need a test that's rapidly available locally."

The Houston Health Department's laboratory is going through final certification for its own Zika testing procedure, spokeswoman Kathy Barton said Monday.

Previously, samples had to be sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or to one of the few local or state public health laboratories with the ability to test for Zika. A number of other hospitals have been working on Zika virus diagnostics, and Musser said he expected several other large hospitals would soon announce tests.

Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said the test will be important for tracking Zika throughout the region if, as expected, local transmission occurs once the weather warms and mosquitoes become more active.

Read more about how the test works and the impact it will have on HoustonChronicle.com.