Quest Diagnostics has received emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell the first commercially developed diagnostic test for Zika in the United States, a step that may help expand testing capacity and speed diagnosis of the virus.
Previously, the only Zika blood tests that had emergency use authorization (EUA) were available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and were only to be used in qualified laboratories designated by the CDC.
Quest, in its announcement on Thursday, said it plans to make the new test broadly available to doctors for patient testing, including in Puerto Rico, by early next week.