Washington, Dec. 6 (Reuters): A new diagnostic tool called a gene chip can tell with a single test if a patient has malaria, Ebola, influenza or a bacterial infection.

The so-called GreeneChip can quickly diagnose infectious diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites, using tissue, blood, urine and stool, the international team of researchers report in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

So when a patient comes in with flu-like symptoms, a doctor armed with such a chip can quickly tell if it is a dangerous strain of flu or a harmless virus. The GreeneChip is a glass slide with row after row of DNA or RNA samples from nearly 30,000 different viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites.