Real-Time Reverse Transcription-PCR Assay Panel for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

Reverse Transcription Recombinase Polymerase Amplification Assay for the Detection of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

The emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the eastern Mediterranean and imported cases to Europe has alerted public health authorities. Currently, detection of MERS-CoV in patient samples is done by real-time RT-PCR. Samples collected from suspected cases are sent to highly-equipped centralized laboratories for screening. A rapid point-of-care test is needed to...

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus

International experts were invited by WHO to join an international team, which visited Riyadh 4-9 June 2013. The joint Saudi/WHO team comprised officials from the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and public health institutions and hospitals in...

middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus

International experts were invited by WHO to join an international team, which visited Riyadh 4-9 June 2013. The joint Saudi/WHO team comprised officials from the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and public health institutions and hospitals in...

Comparative Evaluation of Three Homogenization Methods for Isolating Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Nucleic Acids From Sputum Samples for Real-Time Reverse Transcription PCR

BACKGROUND Real-time reverse transcription PCR (rRT-PCR) of sputum samples is commonly used to diagnose Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. Owing to the difficulty of extracting RNA from sputum containing mucus, sputum homogenization is desirable prior to nucleic acid isolation. We determined optimal homogenization methods for isolating viral nucleic acids from sp...