A Quick, Portable Test for Ebola

Posted on Jul 8, 2015

A Quick, Portable Test for Ebola
PORT LOKO, SIERRA LEONE - PIH clinician Dr. Dana Clutter tends to a patient entering Maforki Ebola Treatment Unit in January. Photo by Rebecca E. Rollins / Partners In Health

In late June, Partners In Health staff and colleagues published a study on a groundbreaking medical device. Appearing in The Lancet, the study shows that a portable, fast-working Ebola test called ReEBOV was widely effective.

The trial took place in Sierra Leone in February. A clinician pricked the finger of a patient suspected of having Ebola, placed a drop of blood on what looks like a plastic spoon, and less than a half hour later, a small strip of paper indicated whether the patient had Ebola or not. After 106 such tests, the authors found that ReEBOV was just as accurate as lab-based tests.

It’s great news. Getting results from a lab-based test can take days and of course requires a full-blown lab. ReEBOV, on the other hand, is speedy, easy to transport to wherever it’s needed, and presumably more affordable. While maybe not a “game changer”—as CBS News claimed, parroting a press release from the ReEBOV manufacturer—it’s a terrific new tool. Along with topnotch hospitals and clinics, well-trained doctors and nurses, ample stocks of medicines and supplies, ReEBOV could help snuff out future Ebola outbreaks before they become epidemics.

Programs
Dr. Paul Farmer sharing a friendly moment with one of his staff.

Paul's Promise

As we mourn the passing of our beloved Dr. Paul Farmer, we also honor his life and legacy.

PIH Founders - Jim Kim, Ophelia Dahl, Paul Farmer

Bending the Arc

More than 30 years ago, a movement began that would change global health forever. Bending the Arc is the story of Partners In Health's origins.