Simultaneous on-site visual identification of norovirus GI and GII genogroups with point-of-care molecular lateral flow strip

Abstract

Norovirus (NoV) possesses a significant risk for outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis all over the world. In this study, a visual genogroup identification method was demonstrated for the rapid and simultaneous screening of high-risk human NoV GI and GII based on a well-integrated platform using multiple polymerase chain reactions (mPCR) and lateral flow strips (LFS). Different tagged primer sets are designed for the simultaneous amplification of NoV GI and GII, amplicons of both genogroups can be visually judged with molecular LFS. The high amplification efficiency of PCR and the simplicity of LFS were well integrated for the on-site simultaneous identification of NoV GI and GII genogroups. The whole identification process can be completed in 1 hour with a visual limit of detection (vLOD) as low as 6 copies/reaction (25 μL). The identification performance was evaluated by the detection of clinical samples of NoV GI and GII and satisfactory results were achieved for the simultaneous genogroups identification of NoV. This molecular LFS method holds great promise for wide applications in the rapid screening of acute outbreaks of pandemics in resource-limited settings.