Royal Oak's Beaumont Hospital Develops Zika Virus Test

ROYAL OAK, MI — Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak has developed a quick, reliable Zika virus test. Announced Monday, it’s a simple urine test that produces results in less than 30 minutes. While the virus doesn’t pose an extreme danger to adults, babies born with the virus often have lifelong, devastating birth defects.

"Couples trying to conceive might not even know if they are infected and at risk," Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak urology scientist Laura Lamb, Ph.D., said. Lamb and her colleagues developed the test. "When we discovered we could reliably detect Zika virus in urine, we knew we had the potential to change lives all over the world.”

Current testing for the virus involves trained medical staff drawing and mailing blood samples to a lab, a process that can take up to four weeks. Now, Dr. Lamb and her team are working on applying the same concept to testing for other infectious diseases.

"We are currently working on developing a urine-based test that would allow for rapid and accurate detection of not only Zika, but also viruses such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and West Nile virus," Lamb said in a news release. "Detecting these viruses earlier allows us to provide treatment faster and potentially save lives."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 5,274 cases of Zika virus reported in the United States over the past two years. The urine test is still in the research phase and requires additional funding and resources to allow people across the country and around the world to benefit.

In May 2017, Lamb presented her study, entitled, "Detection of Zika Virus in Urine Samples and Infected Mosquitos by Reverse Transcription-Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification" at the American Urological Association's annual meeting in Boston.

The Maureen and Ronald Hirsch family philanthropic fund supported the study. The study results have been submitted for publication in a peer review medical journal.

As of May 10, 2017, the CDC reported 110 "symptomatic Zika virus" disease cases. All of the cases had come from travelers returning to the U.S. from affected areas in the world. A total of 493 cases were reported in U.S. territories from mosquitoes.

Photo courtesy of Beaumont Hospital