Evaluation of a multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay for subtyping hemagglutinin genes 1 and 3 of swine influenza type A virus in clinical samples

A multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed to detect and identify subtypes of hemagglutinin (H) 1 and H3 swine influenza virus (SIV). Two oligonucleotide primer sets were prepared using published sequence data for H1N1 and H3N2. The PCR products with unique size characteristics of each subtype were sequenced, and the sequences were confirmed to be subtype specific for H gene 1 or 3. These primer sets did not amplify when RT-PCR assay was performed for genomic DNA or RNA from other common swine pathogens. The RT-PCR assay was able to detect viral RNA up to 1 tissue culture infective dose of reference SIV H1N1 or H3N2. The multiplex RT-PCR was applied to 30 SIV isolates subtyped by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. Forty-three positive and 20 negative swine field samples for SIV by virus isolation were also tested. Of these 73 SIV-positive samples tested, H1 and H3 were identified in 38 and 28 samples by the multiplex RT-PCR, respectively. The remaining 7 samples were positive for both H1 and H3 genes. No positive reaction was found for all 20 SIV-negative field samples. Subsequently, 235 random field samples from pigs with respiratory problems were tested by the multiplex RT-PCR, and 26 and 13 samples were found to be positive for H1 and H3, respectively. Results of these multiplex RT-PCR were comparable with those of the HI test. These results suggest that multiplex RT-PCR can be a useful test for detection and subtyping of SIV in clinical samples.