--- title: Zika Virus: Commercially Available Test Just Weeks Away description: A commercially available test for the Zika virus may be just weeks away canonical: https://time.com/4219871/zika-virus-test-weeks-away/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-12T19:36:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:02:57.013Z article:section: Health og:title: WHO: Commercially Available Test for Zika Virus Only Weeks Away og:description: A commercially available test for the Zika virus may be just weeks away og:url: https://time.com/4219871/zika-virus-test-weeks-away/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa7b1e7c05f979cf/69887d7af887dce03ae949c5/zika-virus3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Eritania Maria, who is six months pregnant, is seen in front of her house at a slum in Recife og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WHO: Commercially Available Test for Zika Virus Only Weeks Away twitter:description: A commercially available test for the Zika virus may be just weeks away twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa7b1e7c05f979cf/69887d7af887dce03ae949c5/zika-virus3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Commercially Available Test for Zika Virus Only Weeks Away, WHO Says  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 12, 2016 7:36 PM UTC  Eritania Maria, who is six months pregnant, is seen in front of her house at a slum in Recife, Brazil, on Feb. 2, 2016. Eritania Maria, who is six months pregnant, is seen in front of her house at a slum in Recife, Brazil, on Feb. 2, 2016.Ueslei Marcelino—Reuters  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 12, 2016 7:36 PM UTC A commercially available test for the [Zika virus](http://time.com/4207599/zikas-toll/) may be just weeks away, the [World Health Organization](http://time.com/4219434/who-zika-pregnant-women/?xid=homepage) (WHO) said Friday. Only a select few labs can currently test for [Zika](http://time.com/4209612/zika-guillain-barre-syndrome-cdc/?xid=homepage) and a commercial test would improve the ability of researchers to track the [disease’s spread](http://time.com/4219240/zika-africa-origins-microcephaly-vaccine/?xid=homepage). Ten biotech companies and 10 other companies are at various stages of developing such a test, according to WHO. “New validated and broadly available diagnostics are urgently needed to step up research, clinical management and surveillance,” said Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO assistant director-general, at a press conference. “Although it is difficult to predict the time for the first commercial and independently validated tests to be available, we are talking weeks and not years.” Researchers are also developing a Zika vaccine, but they are at least 18 months away, according to Kieny. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4219871/zika-virus-test-weeks-away/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4219871/zika-virus-test-weeks-away/"},"headline":"Commercially Available Test for Zika Virus Only Weeks Away, WHO Says","datePublished":"2016-02-12T19:36:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:02:57.013Z","description":"A vaccine is much further off","url":"https://time.com/4219871/zika-virus-test-weeks-away/","keywords":["Zika"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa7b1e7c05f979cf/69887d7af887dce03ae949c5/zika-virus3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa7b1e7c05f979cf/69887d7af887dce03ae949c5/zika-virus3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Eritania Maria, who is six months pregnant, is seen in front of her house at a slum in Recife","caption":"Eritania Maria, who is six months pregnant, is seen in front of her house at a slum in Recife","creditText":"Ueslei Marcelino—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/zika/","name":"Zika"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4219871/zika-virus-test-weeks-away/","name":"Commercially Available Test for Zika Virus Only Weeks Away, WHO Says"}}]}] ```