HK labs work on speedyflu test

Hong Kong has assigned a team of scientists to develop a test that could cut the time it takes to diagnose the new swine flu strain from a few days to a few hours.

Researchers in Hong Kong played a prominent role in discovering and determining how to treat SARS - a separate deadly virus that spread rapidly in 2003, killing nearly 800 people.

Thomas Tsang, controller for Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection, said the government and the city's universities are jointly developing the rapid swine flu test using genetic information on the virus from the World Health Organization. Such data is shared with designated flu laboratories worldwide.