A team of scientists in Southampton has created the first rapid test kits for the new swine flu virus.
Primer Design Ltd's one-step test kits are the first on the market to give a result within two hours.
The current tests being used take around two days to give a positive or negative result.
Dr Jim Wicks, one of the company's directors, said: "This is the first kit in the world that will be available to specifically look for the pandemic version of the virus.
"There are kits out there to look for flu and look for pig flu, but at the moment there's nothing out there to specifically look for this new dangerous version of the disease."
The kit works by rapidly multiplying a sample of DNA taken from the suspected swine flu sufferer.
If the H1N1 strain is present in the sample, the test homes in on the genetic material unique to the infection.
This allows it to quickly differentiate between those suffering from the new strain and those with more common strains of the flu virus.
Crucially, the kit is cheap, fast and easy to mass produce and is now being shipped to Mexico, Spain, USA and the Middle East for immediate use.
It will have obvious commercial rewards for Primer Design - but should swine flu spread, rapid diagnosis will enable governments and health agencies to monitor its progress and hopefully contain it.
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