Background: To establish a method for H5N1 RNA detection and laboratory diagnosis of suspected human avian influenza (H5N1) virus infected cases.
Methods: The typing and sub-typing primers were designed according to M and H5 and N1 gene respectively, and the RT-PCR and real-time PCR were developed using these primers.
Results: The RT-PCR and real-time PCR could be used for H5N1 detection specifically, and there was no cross reaction with other influenza subtypes such as H1 and H3. The sensitivity for RT-PCR and real-time PCR was 1 TCID50 and 0.01 TCID50 respectively. Thirteen laboratory confirmed human H5N1 cases were detected from 42 suspected cases by using these methods.
Conclusion: The established RT-PCR and real-time PCR methods can be used for laboratory detection of suspected human H5N1 cases.