Advanced H5N1 kit to help in early, rapid detection of bird flu [Video]

Amid rising threats of bird flu killing hundreds of birds and also spilling over to some mammals and even humans, a global research team on Friday announced Steadfast — an advanced diagnostic kit for detecting the highly pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza Virus (AIV).

This development marks a significant breakthrough in avian influenza monitoring, reinforcing global efforts in pandemic preparedness, said the team from Diagnostics Development Hub (DxD Hub) — a national platform hosted by the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A-STAR), Singapore, in collaboration with researchers from Japan.

The newly developed Steadfast offers rapid detection of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus. It also helps differentiate between highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) strains — critical for effective control measures.

While conventional sequencing methods take two to three days for results, Steadfast can detect HPAI H5 strains (H5N1, H5N5, H5N6) in about three hours.

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