A new test that detects virtually any virus that infects people and animals has been developed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The advance, reported in the journal Genome Research, could help doctors quickly and effectively diagnose thousands of viruses that cause illness in people and animals. That in turn could allow for accurate diagnoses that can help patients avoid a long and costly process, involving numerous tests, Medical News Today reports.

According to the study's senior author Gregory Storch, M.D., researchers develop the test using a technique known as "enhanced virome sequencing," which allows them to "efficiently detect viruses that are present at very low levels."

No test so far has been sensitive enough to detect low levels of viruses. Until now.

Dr. Storch said the new test — called ViroCap — can quickly deadly viruses such as Ebola, Marburg, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), as well as the more common rotavirus and norovirus, which cause severe gastrointestinal infections.