Malarial Detection Product Finishes Field Testing

Medical Analysis Systems Inc. in Camarillo has completed the preliminary field testing of VecTest, a product for detecting malaria parasites in infected mosquitoes.

U.S. military officials, researchers and public health teams around the world are evaluating the test, which can be employed in the field to continuously monitor mosquitoes for the two most serious strains of malaria.

VecTest was developed at Navix Inc., a subsidiary of Medical Analysis Systems, with money from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research through the federal government’s Small Business Innovative Research program. The Pentagon sought the test’s development because malaria remains a threat to military personnel often deployed to malaria-plagued areas.

Kirti Dave, leader of the VecTest project, said the Army wanted something that would help soldiers immediately determine the threat of malaria and then guide preventive medicine teams.