An Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 is a legal means for the Food and Drug Administration

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

 (FDA) to approve new drugs or new indications for previously approved drugs during a declared emergency.

Response to swine influenza epidemic

In response to requests from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...

, on April 27, 2009 the FDA issued Emergency Use Authorizations to make available diagnostic and therapeutic tools to identify and respond to the 2009 swine flu outbreak under certain circumstances. The agency issued these EUAs for the use of certain Relenza and Tamiflu antiviral drug

Antiviral drug

Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used specifically for treating viral infections. Like antibiotics for bacteria, specific antivirals are used for specific viruses...

s, and for the rRT-PCR

Real-time polymerase chain reaction

In molecular biology, real-time polymerase chain reaction, also called quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction or kinetic polymerase chain reaction , is a laboratory technique based on the PCR, which is used to amplify and simultaneously quantify a targeted DNA molecule...

 Swine Flu Panel diagnostic test

In vitro diagnostics

In vitro diagnostic tests are medical devices intended to perform diagnoses from assays in a test tube, or more generally in a controlled environment outside a living organism...

.