By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday it had awarded $11.4 million for developing new, quick tests for influenza to four U.S. companies. The idea is to come up with reliable, on-the-spot tests for H5N1 avian influenza, the CDC said in a statement. Current quick tests can tell if a person is infected with influenza A or B, but they do not identify the strain and reports suggest the tests miss influenza in patients infected with H5N1. The companies are: Sunnyvale, California based Cepheid <CPHD.O>, which got $2.4 million; San Diego-based Nanogen <NGEN.O>, which won $4.5 million; Marlborough, Massachusetts-based Iquum, which got $3.8 million and Gaithersburg, Maryland-based MesoScale, which won $706,000, the CDC said in a statement. "The tests could provide public health experts worldwide with critical information on the influenza viruses circulating and help monitor for viruses that could cause a global influenza pandemic," the CDC said. "During the next year, the four companies will work to create tests that would detect seasonal human influenza viruses and differentiate influenza A H5N1 from seasonal human influenza viruses within 30 minutes." "Because influenza viruses are constantly changing, the tests would also need to be quickly adapted if the virus mutates over time or if new viruses emerge that have the potential to cause a pandemic." The CDC said it hoped to help the companies win Food and Drug Administration approval within two to three years. "We have seen avian influenza infections since 1997 but we unfortunately still do not have a good way to quickly and easily distinguish at a patient's bedside whether they suffer from H5N1 or a more common type of influenza," said CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding. "These contracts will support development of promising technology that could help doctors treat their patients faster and help public health authorities track influenza viruses that could spur a pandemic." Currently, to test for H5N1, samples from the patient must be sent a specialized testing lab, which can sometimes take more than a week. This would be too slow to stop the spread of a pandemic, experts say. While the H5N1 avian flu virus mostly affects birds, it has infected 258 people and killed 154. Experts say it could evolve into a pandemic strain that infects people easily if it acquires the ability to pass easily from one person to another.
