Most health professionals in the field are currently relying on color-changing strips. These quick test strips react to antibodies in blood samples, enabling the detection of specific viruses like Ebola within 15 minutes.It represents an extremely useful test in the middle of an outbreak. Even better are polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines, which are capable of analyzing DNA from blood samples for more accurate results. Next-generation sequencing machines — which are being tested around the world — can do the same thing, but also have the ability to spot multiple types of viruses.Both, however, are heavier and more expensive than the strips. In fact, PCR machines can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000. In order to prevent the next Ebola outbreak something more advanced is therefore required. Think the medical tricorder from “Star Trek”: a portable device that could quickly diagnose a variety of diseases in remote areas.“That is the holy grail now,” Dr. Charles Chiu, director of the Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center (VDDC) at the University of California, San Francisco, told NBC News. Devices like Oxford Nanopore’s MinION (a pocket-sized gadget that connects to USB ports) are a very good start, he said, but they need to become more powerful and accurate before they can be used widely in the field.

Detecting Ebola Before it Spreads

One of the main problems with early detection is that someone who has early symptoms of Ebola — like vomiting and diarrhea — might not have Ebola at all. They could have Lassa fever, which affects around 300,000 Africans every year, or something more benign.