As the world reacts to the outbreak of swine flu, one local company has been called on to help.

Idexx Laboratories, a veterinary testing company in Westbrook, has seen in uptick in sales of swine flu test kits, used to determine whether the virus has infected herds of pigs.

The kit used to test the influenza A subtype H1N1, which is what has killed more than 100 people in Mexico, infected hundreds of Americans and has been detected in pigs in Canada, was launched by Idexx in 2001.

Livestock testing is just one of Idexx’s businesses. The company, which has locations all over the world and is headquartered in Westbrook, develops and manufactures veterinary products for dogs, cats and horses, and also sells products for testing milk and water.

According to Frank Winslow, senior marketing program manager for Idexx, the swine flu kits previously had not been a big seller for the company, and Idexx has had to adjust its production schedules in response to the increased demand for the kits.

Winslow said test kits range in price from $750-$1,000 per kit, depending on the country and currency exchange rates.

Idexx spokeswoman Betsy Richards would not provide specific sales figures, however, but said that the company is well-positioned to meet customers’ needs.

Gary Goodrich, president of BioProcessing, a biotechnology company in Portland, said he’s not surprised that Idexx is benefiting from the outbreak of swine flu in humans, even though its products are for animals.

The product is used for routinely testing herds, he said, but “when you have an outbreak, you have to test the herds again.”

Also, because this particular virus is transmitted easily and can spread from an animal species to humans, there’s an increased concern – and a resulting increase in test kit sales.

“These things do sometimes have a positive economic effect,” he said.

Winslow said one kit can test up to about 500 samples, and they are used solely in laboratories, not on farms. If a pig is infected with the virus, its immune system will produce antibodies to fight it. Re-agents, or substances used to bring about chemical reactions, in the kits detect the antibodies in samples of the blood serum of pigs.

The test will detect antibodies starting within eight to 13 days of infection. It is not used for early identification of initial cases in an outbreak, but for monitoring the extent of outbreaks and the recovery of herds after an outbreak has already occurred.

“It’s used as a routine screening and monitoring tool for the herds,” Winslow said, but isn’t a government-mandated test.

Though some of the panic surrounding the swine flu has died down in recent days, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control, the outbreak continues to expand throughout the country and the world. So far, there have been one confirmed and six probable cases in Maine.

Orders have been coming in from all over the world, Winslow said, but he cannot predict how long the company will see this bump in sales.

“These outbreaks are always very fluid and moving,” he said.

Idexx has recently been in the news locally as an opponent of neighboring Pike Industries’ plan to expand its quarrying business, which Idexx says doesn’t fit in with a vision the city posed for more biotechnology companies to move into the area around Five Star Industrial Park off of Saco Street.