The U.N. atomic agency said Monday that it had sent Sierra Leone equipment first used in nuclear processes that can help it quickly diagnose Ebola and it was also in contact with other West African nations about their needs. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that its specialized technology could make a "small but effective contribution" to combat the outbreak of the deadly virus that has killed 4,950 people, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. The IAEA said that a nuclear-derived diagnostic technology known as Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) allows Ebola to be detected using fluorescent markers within a few hours, while other methods of detecting the virus require growing on a cell culture for several days. Alexander Nitzsche, an IAEA spokesman, said in an email to Reuters that a shipment of an RT-PCR machine left for Sierra Leone Sunday. "We are currently in communication with Liberia, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivorie, and Guinea to identify their specific needs," Nitzsche said.
