The nation’s public health agency says it’s beefing up the ability of labs around the country to test for the Zika virus, which has now infected more than 3,100 people in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday it has sent materials to labs in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico allowing them to conduct a Zika test that detects antibodies to fight the virus. So far, labs in 41 of the states, along with D.C. and Puerto Rico, have completed the process required to start testing.
The CDC said it has also sent materials to labs in all the states, D.C. and Puerto Rico enabling them to use a second Zika test, which allows doctors to tell if a patient is infected with two related illnesses known as chikungunya or dengue.
Overall, the agency spent $2.5 million last month on supplies and equipment to improve the testing capacity. The aim is to speed up the rate at which Zika cases can be diagnosed, a process that currently takes two to four weeks because so few labs in the U.S. are certified to test for the virus.
Congress is on the verge of approving emergency funding to fight Zika, which is spreading locally in Florida and can result in serious birth defects if pregnant women are infected. More than 730 pregnant women in the U.S. have been found to have Zika.
