(Trinidad Express) – The test needed to confirm whether a victim has contracted swine influenza, A (H1N1) virus, is not yet available at the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC).

And the Medical Association of Trinidad and Tobago has expressed concern over the swine flu outbreak abroad, and is calling on the Ministry of Health to ensure all that is required to treat the virus that is now causing panic around the planet is available.

Officials at NIPDEC, the agent responsible for supplying the reagent, a substance used in chemical analysis, did not want to comment on whether there is a supply in Trinidad or when a supply is expected.

CAREC states on its website that it will “offer specific testing for swine influenza A (H1N1) as soon as the specific reagents become available”.

The centre said the ability to test specimens for the swine flu was limited.

Twenty-one countries are members of CAREC, which is based in Trinidad.

Dr Solaiman Juman, the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Association, said, “We would like the Ministry to make all efforts to obtain the reagent that are necessary for testing the virus” and made available to CAREC and all the laboratories involved in carrying out the necessary tests.