European Commission procures altona Ebola kits

As part of the European Commission’s broader response to the ongoing Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, DG Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HERA), with the support of the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), has signed an agreement to procure €2.1 million worth of open-platform PCR tests from altona Diagnostics for donation to the World Health Organization (WHO).

PCR testing from altona has been used since the beginning of the Bundibugyo outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in May 2026. Our kits support isolation measures, contact tracing, and treatment decisions based on confirmed etiology.

All altona colleagues are now glad to be part of this new initiative which raises the chances to curtail the Bundibugyo virus transmission. The European Commission’s agreement contains all three currently applied altona Ebola PCR assays:

RealStar^® Filovirus Screen RT-PCR Kit 1.0

RealStar^® Filovirus Type RT-PCR Kit 2.0 RUO

RealStar^® Bundibugyo Virus RT-PCR Kit 1.0 RUO

Each of the three kits is directed to specific laboratory goals regarding Ebola virus detection. The CE-IVD marked RealStar^® Filovirus Screen RT-PCR Kit 1.0 is frequently used to test patient samples for Marburg virus and Ebola virus. To detect and differentiate between Marburg virus and 5 different Ebola virus species laboratories turn to the RealStar^® Filovirus Type RT-PCR Kit 2.0 RUO. The RealStar^® Bundibugyo Virus RT-PCR Kit 1.0 RUO serves as the tool for the specific detection of Bundibugyo Ebola virus (BDBV).