FDA Clears Rapid Test for Avian Influenza A Virus in Humans.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today cleared for marketing a new, more rapid test for the detection of influenza A/H5N1, a disease-causing subtype of the avian influenza A virus that can infect humans. The test, (AVantage A/H5N1 Flu Test) detects influenza A/H5N1 in throat or nose swabs collected from patients who have flu-like symptoms. The test identifies in less than 40 minutes a specific protein (NS1) that indicates the presence of the influenza A/H5N1 virus subtype. Previous tests cleared by the FDA to detect this influenza A virus subtype can take three or four hours to produce results.