Army Test for Parasitic Disease Wins FDA Clearance

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the SMART Leish PCR assay, a test to aid in the diagnosis of people with cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by certain species of sand flies. The Army Medical Research and Materiel Command worked for several years to develop the diagnostic test to address the global health issue of cutaneous leishmaniasis, which has occurred in thousands of U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.