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.