China has developed a method to test for the bird flu virus in
four hours, much shorter than the 21 days taken by the
internationally accepted detection method recommended by the
Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), according
to a meeting held Saturday in Beijing to approve the method.
The new method of reverse transcription-polymerase chain
reaction (RT-PCR) was jointly developed by the Beijing
Administration for Entry-and-Exit Inspection and Quarantine and a
company in Shenzhen, south Guangdong Province.
The method has been assessed and approved by experts from the
Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Administration of
Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, Agricultural
University of China, and the Chinese Academy of Medical
Sciences.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2004)