Federal regulators on Friday approved a new tool for detecting if someone is infected through the Zika virus, as cases in the U.S. continue to mount.
Currently, doctors have to use a combination of three tests to determine if someone is infected with Zika. However, the Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new diagnostic tool that only requires one test instead of three.
The tool was approved on an emergency basis by the FDA, and will be distributed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to laboratories.
The decision comes at a time when the Zika virus has spread to 59 countries and territories.
Health agencies are increasingly concerned about a link between Zika and the birth defect microcephaly and neurological disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
There were 258 Zika cases in the U.S. in more than 30 states as of March 16. However, almost all of them are from people who traveled to a country where the virus is spreading via mosquito bites.
There have been six cases involving people who got the virus through sexual transmission.
So far, there have been no cases in the U.S. of Zika spreading through mosquito bites like other countries, but health agencies are worried that limited outbreaks could occur with the hotter summer months coming up.
