“RT-PCR Unlikely To Miss Infection”: Experts on Ebola Test Accuracy

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]The Ebola outbreak is creating worldwide panic and [music] fear. An alert has been raised in India after a traveler from Uganda in Bengaluru showed flu-like symptoms. [music] While initial PCR results are negative, doctors stress continued monitoring due to the virus's incubation period and the need for highly sensitive RT-PCR [music] confirmation.

[00:00:19]>> That is a Ugandan lady who landed up in India through Ahmedabad and then traveled to Bengaluru.

[00:00:25]And she is showing some symptoms of Ebola. The symptoms of Ebola can be a little confusing because they are just like any other flu.

[00:00:33]Uh fever, cough, sore throat, headache, body ache. So, if those kind of symptoms are there, they cannot be always considered that is Ebola, but because she's coming from a Ebola-borne country where there's outbreak, uh therefore, we should be suspecting her and keeping her in quarantine for 21 days because infection of Ebola can come within 2 to 21 days.

[00:00:55]>> So, one of the strains of Ebola is Bundibugyo virus, but there are Sudan strain, Tai Forest strain, Zaire strain, and different strain. So, you have to test for all of these. There are primers that are designed which can do this, and there's a test system on the RT-PCR which is known as real-time Altona, which is very, very sensitive and highly specific. So, if they are tested and even if they are negative, they need to undergo quarantine. Incubation period is quite quite big. And so, if they're in window period, they might test negative, but they may be suspected case.

[00:01:35]However, the test which is at the moment available, which can detect very small copy numbers and large copy numbers equally, it is unlikely that test positive when negative that they will be positive, but they should be uh under under quarantine. Some of the uh rapid diagnostic tests which are antibody based against the various antigens, nucleoproteins, glycoproteins, or all the P or the or the or the P40, 35, etc. [music] These These antibodies do not have that much sensitivity. So, there might be a false negative and false positive. These tests need to be um ultimately confirmed by an artificial test. The RT-PCR RT-PCR test is above 90% and and 99% at the moment at the moment there are two ways this can be done.

[00:02:37]>> For more such informative videos, stay tuned to Health and Me.