Qiagen has been selected to contribute to the fight against infectious diseases in animals in emerging countries by supplying an international pilot project associated with the UN.
The company will be providing portable devices to perform ultra-fast molecular testing in the field.
The Qiagen instruments, called ESE-Quant Tube Scanners, weigh 2lb and are about the size of a desktop telephone.
In conjunction with assays developed at the Joint FAO/IAEA Division, an effort of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), these Qiagen point-of-need detection systems can analyse DNA or RNA from viruses or bacteria, even in remote settings, which eliminates the need for time-consuming sample shipments to central laboratories for testing.
Getting immediate results will enable rapid reaction to contain outbreaks at the source.
Qiagen will initially supply up to 50 of these instruments to national health authorities in 35 emerging countries in Africa, Asia and South America.
The three-year pilot project will evaluate a testing system for detecting Avian Flu (H5N1) in poultry, Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in sheep and goats, and Contagious Bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia (CBPP), also known as lung plague, in cattle.
Qiagen began supplying the detection platforms in the second half of November 2010 as part of the commercial agreement.
Depending on outcomes, the initiative allows for future expansion of the veterinary diagnostic portfolio to a total of 10 livestock diseases.
Subsequent implementation in other geographic regions would then be possible.
Qiagen's ESE-Quant Tube Scanner can be deployed in almost any setting.
Activated with a single button, the test is based on isothermal nucleic acid amplification, which allows DNA or RNA from viruses in sample materials to be multiplied and visualised without the need for laboratory conditions.
The instrument continuously takes highly sensitive measurements, while also providing quality control of the results.
The portable devices can process up to eight samples simultaneously within approximately 30min and results can be forwarded directly to a personal computer or notebook.
