FDA allows DoD to distribute swine flu test to soldiers

ROCKVILLE, Md. The Food and Drug Administration will allow the Department of Defense to distribute a test for detecting the swine flu in soldiers serving overseas.

The FDA announced Tuesday that it had issued an emergency use authorization for the test, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and called the CDC swH1N1 Influenza Real-Time RT-PCR. An EUA allows the use of unapproved medical products or unapproved uses of them during a declared public health emergency. The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus was declared a global pandemic this summer, making it the first influenza pandemic since 1968.

“The FDA worked quickly with the Defense Department to authorize the use of this test to better protect our troops,” FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in a statement. “The test will aid in more rapid diagnosis of 2009 H1N1 influenza infections so that deployed troops can quickly begin appropriate medical treatment.”