The National Research Institute of Health said Wednesday that it received government approval to manufacture a domestically developed detection reagent for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS).
 
The institute under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) launched efforts to develop the detection reagent when the nation was devastated by the spread of MERS last year.
 
The PowerCheckTM MERS Real-time PCR kit can determine whether a person is infected with MERS by testing viral RNA extracted from respiratory tract samples.
 
The CDC expressed hope that the new kit will help allow a swift response in the event of a MERS outbreak.