Enhancing classical swine fever virus identification: the advantages of Field‐LAMP testing

Abstract

Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) identification has witnessed significant advancements with the development of rapid reverse‐transcription loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (RT‐LAMP) assays. However, conventional RT‐LAMP assays for CSFV diagnosis are hindered by a laborious RNA extraction step. Moreover, the need for thermal incubators and expensive micropipettes has limited their application in field settings. Addressing these challenges, our study presents a groundbreaking solution—an electro‐free and point‐of‐care (POC) tool known as the field‐LAMP assay—for the rapid clinical detection of CSFV. By eliminating the RNA extraction requirement, advancing the colorimetric read‐out and lyophilized reaction reagents, our field‐LAMP assay streamlines the diagnostic process, saving valuable time and effort. This novel approach also overcomes the dependency on electric‐dependent thermal incubators and expensive micropipettes, making it practical and accessible for use in the field. The successful development of the field‐LAMP assay marks a significant milestone in CSFV detection. This electro‐free and POC tool offers several advantages, including its ability to deliver rapid results without compromising accuracy, facilitating prompt response and containment measures.

Development of a new loop-mediated isothermal amplification test for the sensitive, rapid, and economic detection of different genotypes of Classical swine fever virus

“…There have been previous attempts at developing a CSFV LAMP assay, dating as far back as 2009 ( Chen et al., 2009 ; Yin et al., 2010 ; Wongsawat et al., 2011 ; Chowdry et al., 2014 ; Postel et al., 2015 ; Tran et al., 2023 ). However, the feasibility to apply some of these techniques in the field has been mostly limited by the use of extracted RNA, which implies training and infrastructure that are not readily available in field conditions.…”

“…Fluorometric detection can be achieved via an easily portable machine, whereas colorimetric detection does not require any detection equipment whatsoever, with a heating source, such as a warm bath, being the only requirement. Recently, a new LAMP technique using body warmers as an alternative to perform colorimetric LAMP reactions without the use of electricity has been proposed to detect CSFV ( Tran et al., 2023 ). Considering that the CSFV-LAMP test developed here proved to be efficient at a wide range of temperatures, similar to those reported for the body warmers, this would be an easily adaptable feature to further improve the technique proposed in the present study.…”