Evaluation of a rapid isothermal nucleic acid amplification kit, Alere™ i Influenza A&B, for the detection of avian influenza viruses.

Rapid and accurate diagnosis of influenza virus infection is essential for quick responses for both human and animal health. The Alere™ i Influenza A&B is a novel isothermal nucleic acid amplification kit that can detect and differentiate between influenza A and B viruses in human specimens in approximately 15 min. In the present study, the performance of the Alere™ i Influenza A&B kit was evaluated for its ability to detect avian influenza virus in chickens. The kit was able to detect representative avian influenza virus strains (hemagglutinin subtypes H1-H16, including the recently isolated H5 and H7 highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses), and the detection limit of the kit for these viruses varied between 10-1.4-102.1 50% egg-infective dose per test, which is higher than the analytical sensitivity of the antigen detection immunochromatography kit ESPLINE® A INFLUENZA. In experimentally infected chickens inoculated with a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus strain A/chicken/Hokkaido/002/2016 (H5N6), viral RNA was detected in the tracheal and cloacal swabs. These results indicate that this kit has the potential to be used as a rapid screening test of influenza A virus infection in chickens.