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On December 31st, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of several cases of severe pneumonia in the Chinese metropolis of Wuhan City, caused by a previously unknown virus. On January 7th, 2020 the Chinese authorities announced that they had identified the new virus – temporarily named “2019-nCoV” – belonging to the coronavirus family. Coronaviruses can cause simple colds, but they can also be responsible for serious diseases such as Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Update January 29st, 2020:
The number of cases of 2019-nCoV infections in China is rising dramatically and also worldwide the number of confirmed cases is increasing. Therefore, reliable diagnoses on a large scale are increasingly needed, even outside China.
altona Diagnostics is in the process of developing a molecular diagnostic assay for the detection of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV, in close cooperation with major reference institutes for emerging diseases. The company is putting big efforts in this project to make a reliable test commercially available to customers as soon as possible. The scientists can draw on the experience of previous product developments for the detection of other emerging viruses. altona Diagnostics was one of the first companies to make reliable molecular diagnostic kits commercially available during outbreak situations for SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, Ebolavirus and Zika virus, among others.
The real-time RT-PCR based assay currently under development will be designed for the qualitative detection of 2019-nCoV specific RNA in respiratory samples.
Media contact
Petra Kampmann
altona Diagnostics GmbH
Mörkenstraße 12
22767 Hamburg
Germany
P.: +49 (0)40 5480676-0
F.: +49 (0)40 5480676-10
petra.kampmann@altona-diagnostics.com
altona Diagnostics GmbH
Mörkenstr. 12
22767 Hamburg, Germany