Smiths Detection, a threat detection and security screening technology company, has announced that its air sampler, BioFlash, can detect SARS-CoV-2 variants including the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), Beta variant (B.1.351), Gamma variant (P.1), the Kappa variant (B1.617.1), Delta (B.1.617.2) and Delta plus variant (B.1.617.2.1).
The company is currently confirming the ability to detect the Lambda variant, with results likely available in Autumn.
In January, Smiths Detection announced that BioFlash was capable of detecting airborne SARS-CoV-2 by the United States Army of Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), and has been successfully used by several Universities to stop the spread of COVID-19 following airborne detection in several campus buildings.
Mike Pound, director of Environmental Health and Safety for University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), said: “It has been a great asset to have this equipment at UMBC. As everyone knows, you need a layered protection strategy to combat COVID. BioFlash is easy and fast to use which makes it a critical part of our mitigation strategy to help prevent transmission.”
Warren Mino, managing director, Smiths Detection, added: “Emerging variants are a threat to pandemic recovery; however, mitigation strategies that utilise BioFlash will have an advantage. BioFlash works by collecting aerosols and identifies the presence of dangerous pathogens using sensitive, specific, and rapid detection in near-real time without laboratory analysis. Not only can BioFlash detect COVID-19 and its variants, it can be used by anyone, giving them immediate results, in minutes not days, which helps stop the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne pathogens.”
