Nigeria Builds Simpler, Cheaper COVID-19 Test Kit

ADF STAFF

Nigeria has developed a new rapid test designed to detect COVID-19 more quickly and for less cost than existing tests.

The new test comes as mask-wearing and social distancing have faded in the streets of Nigeria’s biggest cities after Nigerian leaders eased the country’s lockdown in July and reopened the international airport in September. Increasing movement of people into and around the country has raised the risk that COVID-19 cases will increase. At the same time, testing slowed down and reported cases along with it, raising concerns among health officials that the virus may spread undetected.

Since COVID-19 first arose in Nigeria in March, the country of 200 million has reported more than 60,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths. The government has conducted more than 550,000 tests — a substantial number, but one that needs to increase to get a better understanding of disease spread and infection rates, according to experts at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

Their answer is SIMA — the SARS-COV-2 Isothermal Molecular Assay — a coronavirus test that is faster than the conventional test, PCR (polymerase chain reaction), which detects the virus’s DNA. At $25 per kit, SIMA will be significantly cheaper than the $130 PCR test. SIMA was unveiled September 18.

The test kit is simple, portable and can run 16 samples at a time. It operates at temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius and gives results in about 40 minutes. The test is less sensitive than PCR, but PCR tests can take hours or days to produce results.

Thanks to the simplicity of the design, health care workers can administer the new test with minimal training and meet people seeking tests where they are, whether in crowded markets or distant villages, rather than requiring them to come to a testing center.

“We thought of developing the test when we noticed that many people wanted to have the COVID-19 test done, but there were very few laboratories, especially for people who needed to be triaged by physicians or needed surgery in the hospital,” Baratunde Salako, director general and CEO of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, told ADF. “Thus, a point-of-care kind of test is required rather than the big laboratory with the conventional PCR.”

The test is simple enough for untrained people to carry into the field and administer, according to Dr. Chika Onwuamah, who developed SIMA at the institute.

“The test is something you can carry comfortably and use as a DIY testing kit,” Onwuamah told The Telegraphnewspaper. “You can test 32 people in one hour with one pack.”

The test’s speed and portability mean medical experts can carry it into crowded neighborhoods or distant villages, allowing patients to overcome the potential stigma of visiting a testing center. The SIMA also is ideally suited for the airport.

“There was a man going out for a leg operation,” Onwuamah told The Telegraph. “But he first had to come to our center for testing, in pain. With SIMA, that can be easily done at the airport.”

Although its international airport is reopened, Nigeria requires international travelers to test negative for COVID-19 five days before they arrive. They must isolate themselves for seven days after they arrive.

With a 40-minute turnaround, the new test could be administered to travelers before their flights or after they arrive.

“The test is capable of easing testing at the airport or any border crossing, as it requires small space or side laboratory for biosafety purposes,” Salako said. “Case detection is central to the control of the pandemic.”