The spread of killer virus Ebola could be halted by an advanced new product being developed in Dundee.
As many as 11,000 people have died after contracting the potentially-deadly virus in a recent outbreak in West Africa, including the adopted son of a Perth woman.
Now, the BBI group has applied for a licence to produce a new test kitthat can be used with minimum training to rapidly speed up the diagnosis of Ebola.
And the company believe the discovery could lead to more jobs at its Dundee factory.
Cardiff-based BBI, which has a site in Dundee since acquiring Alchemy Laboratories in 2006, claim local health teams can use the tests at a bedside to get a diagnosis within 20 minutes.
Leigh Thomas, Chief Commercial Officer for the company, said: “BBI has developed high performance lateral flow tests for some of the world’s leading diagnostic companies for over 25 years.
“Our expertise and flexibility has allowed us to quickly deploy a team and develop a rapid test in 9 months which, based on field testing, promises to have an immediate and positive impact on the Ebola crisis.
“We are pleased that our test will meet an immediate need in the field and ultimately improve the lives of others.”
Since the initial Ebola outbreak was reported about a year ago, there have been more than 27,000 reported cases across West Africa.
The World Health Organisation is still reporting new cases of the disease in Sierra Leone and Guinea, while Liberia is now thought to be free of the disease.
Managing Director at BBI Detection, Fiona Marshall, said the production of the new test could lead to a jobs boost for Dundee.
She added: “What it means is we need to increase our assembly capability, so we take on local assembly workers.
“We also have been looking for scientists as well as soon as you bring more tests on bard it means you need to bring in more scientists, more assembly workers and, because it is a regulated product, more expertise around regulation.”