Helping to Stop Zika in its Tracks

Rapid real-time Zika test results

The summers of 2015 and 2016 could be remembered as the summers of Zika, with thousands of confirmed and suspected cases of the virus, real fear among travellers to affected regions, and withdrawal from the Rio Olympics by dozens of worried athletes. Eurofins companies responded with the fast-track development and emergency launch of a test to help stop the spread of this heart-breaking and virulent virus.

The Zika virus was first linked to a fast growing number of cases of microcephaly (a severe neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in smaller-than-normal head size) in newborns, particularly in Central and South America in 2015. Global concerns grew when travellers to these areas, and to others endemic to the virus, began to test positive for Zika. Spread primarily through Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, Zika virus can also be passed on by some forms of sexual contact.

Determined to assist their clients and patients prior to the onset of the mosquito season, Eurofins Biomnis and Eurofins Viracor became amongst the first commercial laboratories to develop and offer real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for Zika to hospitals and health care providers. Subsequent outbreaks in French Guiana and the West Indies in late 2015/2016 required large-scale testing. Working with the French National Reference Centre for Arboviruses, Eurofins Biomnis obtained authorisation in late December 2015, making the test swiftly available for use at national and international levels by January 2016. Eurofins Viracor, in partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration, obtained emergency use authorisation in July 2016 in the USA.

Eurofins Zika assays test human blood serum, blood plasma, urine, saliva, sperm and amniotic fluid from individuals presenting Zika-virus signs and symptoms. It is designed for those who have a history of living in, or travelling to, affected areas. This rapid-response test gives doctors and healthcare professionals a result within just eight to twelve hours of receipt of the sample by a Eurofins laboratory.

The assay’s exceptional sensitivity safeguards against cross-reactions with other viruses in the same family (Flaviviridae), including Dengue, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, and St. Louis encephalitis, or with other viruses known to cause similar clinical symptoms, such as Chikungunya.

The science behind