Following development, the prototype HIV/HCV/HBV/malaria NAT assay was challenged with 1800 negative whole blood and plasma samples and a panel of positive blood and/or plasma samples from 47 patients with acute malaria, 16 from FMT–HVD and 31 from LPM, previously diagnosed using microscopy and the validated in-house FMT–HVD real-time PCR protocol. The gene discussed is BRD2; the disease is malaria.