WEDNESDAY, Dec. 10, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a test to help doctors determine if someone has been infected by anthrax.
Tetracore Inc's Redline Alert test takes about 15 minutes and is meant to distinguish the anthrax-causing Bacillus anthracis bacterium from other germs. While a positive result probably means anthrax infection, a negative result does not rule out anthrax, since in rare cases the organism is able to avoid detection, the FDA said in a statement.
The agency said it cleared the test after trials on 145 samples of anthrax from around the world. The test correctly gave a positive result on 143 of these samples.
For more information about anthrax, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
