Current influenza diagnostic tests, especially when the strains are evolving constantly, vary differently in terms of efficiency, specificity and sensitivity (for a list of diagnostic tests, see Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009). These factors will impact the intervention policies that should be made during an outbreak. It has been argued that a slow, low throughput laboratorybased diagnostic test, such as immunofluorescence DFA antibody staining and RT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction), may not be able to effectively assist pandemic mitigation (Wu et al. 2006) . Ideally, a rapid PCRbased diagnostic testkit should be able to detect the relevant virus in less than 30 minutes, requiring nothing more than a patient sample, and a portable device to perform extraction and drive the PCR cycle. This permits testing to be done quickly, outside a laboratory setting, and allows diagnosis to be performed more easily in rural areas, where novel influenza is likely to emerge. However, such testkits require time to develop for novel strains, and may not be available during the initial phases of a pandemic, during which one may have to fall back on conventional laboratory-based approaches.