FDA Approves Ebola Test for Emergency Use

Roche Holding has announced that U.S. officials have approved its Ebola test for emergency use.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Roche’s LightMix Ebola Zaire rRT-PCR Test for use on patients with signs and symptoms of Ebola Zaire virus infection, the Swiss drugmaker said in a statement.

The LightMix test can generate results in a little over three hours so that infected patients can begin treatment as soon as possible.

Because the FDA has approved the test with an emergency designation, some laboratories in the U.S. will be authorized to use the test to detect the type of Ebola that has been spreading around West Africa. The test has not been approved for general use.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization said the global death toll from Ebola has “risen to 7,588 out of 19,497 confirmed cases recorded.”