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Illinois veterinary diagnostic lab helps implement COVID-19 saliva test
University of Illinois scientists have developed a saliva-based COVID-19 test and the veterinary diagnostic lab on campus is making the implementation of that testing possible.
Dr. Timothy Fan tells Brownfield they recognized the need for a better testing method.
“We wanted something that was fast, that we could do without being invasive to the patient and also something that is not very expensive and scalable, meaning we could ramp this technology up to test thousands of samples a day.”
Fan and other researchers in the veterinary medicine department helped create the Illinois SHIELD test. He says the veterinary diagnostics lab on campus made the quick implementation of the test possible.
“The know-how, the personnel and the equipment was already there and so the veterinary diagnostic lab played a critical role in standing up the testing that is occurring on this campus.”
Testing is now being done under approved FDA Emergency Use Authorization. SHIELD is a three-part system that incorporates testing with data reporting, modeling, and a smartphone app. The University works closely with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District to guide individuals who test positive.
