A faster and cheaper test to diagnose Ebola is expected to be available by March, health authorities say.
The Geneva-based Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) is overseeing the development of the new test, which experts have said will be key to overcoming the outbreak.
FIND director Catharina Boehme described the current Ebola testing procedure as complicated, risky and expensive.
“It takes about 24 hours to get a result, and most of the testing right now is done outside of the actual countries where the cases occur,” Ms Boehme said.
“That is a problem because it takes many days to get the results back and that causes logistics problems and of course, increases the transmission risk.”
Ms Boehme said there was also an issue with suspected patients being placed in quarantine in tents while they awaited their diagnosis, potentially exposing uninfected people to the deadly virus.
There are several companies working to develop a rapid test for Ebola.
“We expect to have the first breakthrough technologies by end of February and are preparing for implementation at this point by setting up training centres,” said Ms Boehme.
“We think that the first new test will reach the countries in March 2015.”
The new test is also expected to slash the cost of testing from between $100 and $200 per test, to around $10 to $20.
“The new test will mostly be focused on taking blood from a finger prick,” Ms Boehme said.
“There is, for example, an Australian company called Atomo who have developed a very safe way of drawing finger-prick blood, and I expect that that will be part of the breakthroughs that we’re going to see within the next month.
“That will be key to overcoming this crisis.”
Researchers are also seeking safer ways to test for the virus.
“We are also looking… at testing saliva and at testing, for example, sweat,” Ms Boehme said.
“When drawing venous blood there’s always a risk of infection for the health worker.”
In total, Ebola has killed nearly 5,200 people across the world and there have been more than 14,410 reported Ebola cases in eight countries since the crisis began, according to WHO.