Eurofins Adds Virus Variant Distinction to Its SARS-CoV-2 Monitoring Solution for Wastewater, Food and Environmental Surfaces

LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eurofins adds today virus variant monitoring capabilities to its commercially available SARS-CoV-2 stand-alone test kit portfolio. This new solution is also part of the Eurofins Covid-19 Sentinel™ and the SAFER@WORK™ program which provide an early warning of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 amongst large populations at a given site (e.g. a city, factories, education institutions, government and public service sites, nursing homes), before the virus spreads too broadly.

At those sites, wastewater and environmental surface testing, offered as part of the Eurofins COVID-19 Sentinel™ programme, can give an early indication of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, therefore allowing for relevant containment measures in order to avoid an outbreak of the disease even before symptom onset, and now also identifying the involved virus variants.

The VIRType SARS-CoV-2 Mplex (N501Y, A570D) kit provides all reagents for the rapid detection and distinction of the SARS-CoV-2 UK (lineage B.1.1.7) or South Africa (lineage B.1.351) and Brazil (lineage P1) variants in wastewater, food and on environmental surfaces via RT-qPCR. Single point mutations referring to the UK (N501Y, A570D) or South Africa and Brazil lineages (N501Y) respectively help to distinguish between the two SARS-CoV-2 variant types. The kit can be used as a confirmatory assay and is part of the VIRSeek product line, including efficient RNA extraction by using the VIRSeek RNAExtractor as well as highly specific subsequent SARS-CoV-2 detection by using the VIRSeek SARS-CoV-2 Mplex.

The VIRSeek solution is already successfully being used in many countries worldwide for the quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater as an early pandemic indicator for communities. We will shortly add a quantitative approach focusing to determine SARS-CoV-2 variant distribution in the wastewater delivering crucial information for monitoring viral spread.

For more information and online purchase, please visit the Eurofins Technologies website.

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