Establishment of a Duplex Real-time RT-PCR Assay for the Differential Detection of Nipha Virus and Highly Pathogenic Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus

To establish a rapid,sensitive and specific assay for the differential detection of Nipah virus (NiV) and highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (HP-PRRSV),a duplex Real-time RT-PCR was developed with specific primers and probes targeting to the special sequences of NiV M gene and HP-PRRSV nsp2 gene by optimization of reaction conditions.The performance of the assay was linear ranging from 4.6×10¹ to 4.6×10⁷ copies/μL for RNA standard control of NiV M (NiV-M-RNA) and from 4.1×10¹ to 4.1×10⁸ copies/μL for RNA standard control of HP-PRRSV nsp2 (HP-PRRSV-nsp2-RNA),and detection limits of the assay was 46 copies for the NiV-M-RNA and 4.1 copies for the HP-PRRSV-nsp2-RNA,respectively.The coefficients of variation (CVs) of both inter-assay and intra-assay repeatability were less than 2.0%,showing good repeatability.The assay was able to specifically detect NiV and HP-PRRSV simultaneously without cross-reaction with classical swine fever virus (CSFV),porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV),swine influenza virus (SIV),porcine parvovirus (PPV),pseudorabies virus (PRV) and porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2).Of the 236 samples from pigs for both NiV and HP-PRRSV detection by the established assay,all the samples were negative for NiV,8 samples were HP-PRRSV positive.In conclusion,this assay offers a useful approach for the differential detection of NiV and HP-PRRSV in clinical specimens from the pigs.