A Rapid and Highly Sensitive Method for Diagnosis of Equine Influenza by Antigen Detection Using Immuno-PCR

A rapid and highly sensitive method for diagnosis of influenza by detecting viral antigens using imununo-PCR has been developed. The sensitivity of the immuno-PCR for the detection of the nonstructural protein 1 (NS 1) antigenically common among influenza A viruses was 10^ times higher than that of RT-PCR for the detection of the viral genome. For the detection of the hemagglutinin (HA) subtype-specific antigen, this assay using anti-HA monoclonal antibodies attained a sensitivity of up to 10^ times higher than those by virus isolation or by RT-PCR