MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA) has developed a test for the measles virus, the agency said in a statement on Thursday.

"On behalf of FMBA chief Veronika Skvortsova, a test system has been developed to detect the RNA of the measles virus in real time, even before the appearance of clinical symptoms," the statement reads.

The AmpliTest Measles test system designed to detect measles virus RNA in smears from the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx and the oropharynx by performing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed by experts from the FMBA Center for Strategic Planning and registered by Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare. Given the high demand for test systems for early diagnosis of the disease, the center is ready to produce up to 10,000 sets of reagents a month, the statement added.

"Performing polymerase chain reaction for diagnosis purposes has several advantages as it allows medical workers to detect the RNA of the measles virus a few days before its clinical symptoms appear (three to four days prior) and has high analytical sensitivity (103 genomic equivalents per milliliter). That said, the test system will make it possible to detect the disease in people who have come in contact with measles carriers and those suspected of being infected during the incubation period," the FMSB said.