Assays for laboratory confirmation of novel human coronavirus (hCoV-EMC) infections

Abstract

We present a rigorously validated and highly sensitive confirmatory real-time RT-PCR assay (1A assay) that can be used in combination with the previously reported upE assay. Two additional RT-PCR assays for sequencing are described, targeting the RdRp gene (RdRpSeq assay) and N gene (NSeq assay), where an insertion/deletion polymorphism might exist among different hCoV-EMC strains. Finally, a simplified and biologically safe protocol for detection of antibody response by immunofluorescence microscopy was developed using convalescent patient serum.

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Affiliated Institutions

• University of Bonn DE
• University of Duisburg-Essen DE
• Robert Koch Institute DE
• TIB Molbiol (Germany) DE
• Ruhrlandklinik DE
• Erasmus MC NL
• Erasmus University Rotterdam NL
• Euroimmun Medizinische Labordiagnostika (Germany) DE

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