LINCOLN, NEB. – MatMaCorp (Materials and Machines Corporation), a molecular diagnostic systems developer, announced successful results of a genetic test for the virus that causes African swine fever. The testing platform was designed to test uncooked pork products, the company said.

MatMaCorp said its test can detect the virus in raw pork products including muscle cuts, bone marrow and spleen. The company said the test can be used to check imported pork products for the virus, in addition to monitoring domestic pork supplies for viral contamination before export.

The evaluation of the test was done as part of the US Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate program which identifies new technologies that monitor and secure the US food supply.

“An outbreak of African swine fever is a very real threat that could devastate the domestic pork export market, and as developers of diagnostic technologies for science and agriculture, we found it of the utmost importance to make available a genetic test that could potentially protect our pork supply,” said Phil Kozera, chief executive officer at MatMaCorp. “The MatMaCorp platform provides a cost-effective, simple test for rapid detection of African swine fever virus, and it could be easily implemented on-site to monitor food imports and exports.”

The platform includes a simple, DNA/RNA isolation kit and a custom assay that is run on a small, portable device, the company said.

“MatMaCorp has developed a customizable system to develop, within days, diagnostic tests from a genomic sequence that can rapidly detect any emerging infectious agent, whether it is a virus or a bacterium,” said Dr. Abe Oommen, founder and president of MatMaCorp.