A new test is the best-to-date in differentiating Zika virus infections from infections caused by similar viruses. The antibody-based assay, developed by researchers at UC Berkeley and Humabs BioMed, a private biotechnology company, is a simple, cost-effective way to determine if a person’s infection is from the Zika virus or another virus of the same family, such as dengue and West Nile viruses.
Zika is a mosquito-borne disease and is linked to severe congenital birth defects. Assays already exist to detect Zika virus infection, but they either work only shortly after infection or are poor at differentiating Zika from other flaviviruses.
