The Food and Drug Administration Friday granted temporary approval to an H1N1 influenza test made by a unit of Quest Diagnostics Inc. (DGX).

Specifically, the agency granted a so-called Emergency Use Authorization that allows unapproved products to be used in the event of a public health emergency.

The FDA said the test, which is made by Focus Diagnostics, a unit of Quest, is designed to test for the presence of the H1N1 influenza virus in genetic material obtained from swabs of patients' noses or throats. The test is the third one granted an Emergency Use Authorization since a public health emergency was declared April 26, shortly after the new H1N1 virus was first detected in the U.S.

The FDA said the test is meant to be used in certain laboratories and wouldn't typically be used in a doctor's office.

Earlier Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more than one million Americans are believed to have been infected with the H1N1 virus and that 302 people have died.

-By Jennifer Corbett Dooren, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9294; jennifer.corbett@dowjones.com