Clinical evaluation of the BioFire FilmArray BioThreat-E test for the diagnosis of Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea.

Background: The recent West Africa Ebola outbreak highlighted the need to provide access to rapid, safe and reliable Ebola Virus Disease diagnostics.

Objectives: The objective of this field study was to assess the clinical performance of the FilmArray BioThreat-E test for the detection of Ebola Zaïre virus in whole blood in symptomatic patients suspected of Ebola Virus Disease in Conakry (Guinea) from March to July 2015.

Study Design: The BioThreat-E test was compared to the two RT-PCRs, using serum, implemented at Donka Hospital in the emergency context: an in-house developed quantitative one-step RT-PCR adapted from the Weidmann technique, and the RealStar Filovirus RT-PCR Kit 1.

Application of a paper based device containing a new culture medium to detect Vibrio cholerae in water samples collected in Haiti.

Cholera is now considered to be endemic in Haiti, often with increased incidence during rainy seasons. The challenge of cholera surveillance is exacerbated by the cost of sample collection and laboratory analysis. A diagnostic tool is needed that is low cost, easy-to-use, and able to detect and quantify Vibrio cholerae accurately in water samples within 18-24h, and perform reliably in remote settings lacking laboratory infrastructure and skilled staff.