IT IS the biggest health crisis facing the world today.

The Ebola outbreak has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people and infected more than 7,000 others in West Africa – and there are fears it could spread to the UK.

Now a Hampshire company is helping in the global effort to combat the deadly disease.

Nursling-based hi-tech firm Primerdesign Ltd, a spin-off company from the University of Southampton, has developed a screening kit that it believes could be used to contain the spread of Ebola.

The kit detects the DNA finger print of the Ebola virus, which means even tiny quantities of the disease can be detected in the early stages.

Staff at the firm began developing it as soon as the outbreak took hold a month ago.

Now it will be sent to America where it will be tested on “live” Ebola samples and could then be used on the frontline in affected countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

Primerdesign managing director Dr Jim Wicks said: “Accurate diagnostics is essential in controlling an outbreak like Ebola.

“There is an urgent need for rapid testing to screen suspected patients and people travelling in and out of the region.”

“It is really important that people know that what we have is not a cure, but it is really important to control an outbreak like this to know who has got it and who has not, to contain the spread of it.

“Especially at the moment where a lot of people are travelling to and from the affected regions to help, which means it is essential to screen people to make sure that they do not bring the virus home.

“It is a real priviledge to be able to help. It is a global effort and we can be a small part of the solution to solve it.”

It comes after people arriving in the UK from areas hit by Ebola will now have to be screened for the virus at Heathrow, Gatwick and Eurostar terminals.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the decision to introduce enhanced screening for Ebola at major airports and terminals had been taken on “medical advice”.

There are fears that the disease could progress across Europe as a Spanish nurse is still in a life-threatening condition after treating another Ebola patient, while a British national is believed to have died from Ebola in Macedonia.

Health experts say that sporadic cases of Ebola in Europe are “unavoidable”.

Britain is to deploy 600 extra military personnel to Sierra Leone next week to help combat the virus. Around 300 US troops are already in Liberia.