Countries rush to build diagnostic capacity as coronavirus spreads

CHICAGO/GENEVA - A week ago, only two laboratories in Africa could diagnose the novel coronavirus that originated in China and is rapidly spreading around the world. As of Sunday, the World Health Organization expected every nation in Africa to be able to diagnose the disease.

“Without vital diagnostic capacity, countries are in the dark as to how far and wide the virus has spread and who has coronavirus or another disease with similar symptoms,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Monday. Roche is distributing coronavirus tests developed by Tib Molbiol of Berlin for research use on some of its instruments while developing a test of its own. Abbott Laboratories also is working on a test.

On Tuesday, WHO is convening a two-day meeting of hundreds of researchers and manufacturers to address the outbreak.Researchers are also working to develop antibody tests that can tell whether someone has been exposed to the virus. They could help answer how broadly this virus has spread, and whether there are milder cases not being detected, Dr. Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergency program, told reporters.

Live isolation of the virus allows a huge advance in diagnostics and potential advances in therapeutics and vaccine development, Ryan said. The company has sent its test kits to Chinese health officials to assess their validity. “Because other companies in China are also doing that, we don’t know when it will be our turn,” said Eric Wang, GenScript’s head of marketing.

As President Trump proposes cuts to the CDC.

I wonder what the good ole' USA is doing to get ready for this upcoming nightmare. Probably nothing.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Africa holds 'silence the guns' summit as new conflicts growThe two-day summit has taken as its theme 'Silencing the Guns', yet AU officials are well aware of their failure to achieve the goal adopted in 2013 of ending 'all wars in Africa by 2020'. I have got 1 solution keep the US government out
Source: trtworld - 🏆 101. / 63 Read more »

From Africa to Azerbaijan, here's how far Russia's global influence stretchesRussia has been keeping relatively quiet on the global stage of late but make no mistake about it, the country's influence across the world is far-reaching.
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »

Rashid stars as England share ODI series with South AfricaLeg-spinner Adil Rashid took the key scalps of Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma ...
Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »

Leaders in Africa summit reject Trump's Mideast planAfrican Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat says US President Trump's controversial plan 'trampled on the rights of the Palestinian people' –– a line that drew applause in main hall at AU headquarters in Ethiopia.
Source: trtworld - 🏆 101. / 63 Read more »

'We're definitely not prepared': Africa braces for coronavirusThe new virus that has spread across China has yet to be confirmed in Africa, but some health workers on the ground warn they are not ready to handle an outbreak. Africa can't get a break 😢😓
Source: latimes - 🏆 11. / 82 Read more »