Development of real-time and lateral flow dipstick recombinase polymerase amplification assays for rapid detection of goatpox virus and sheeppox virus

BACKGROUND: Goatpox virus (GTPV) and sheeppox virus (SPPV), which belong to the Capripoxvirus (CaPV), are economically important pathogens of small ruminants. Therefore, a sensitive, specific and rapid diagnostic assay for detection of GTPV and SPPV is necessary to accurately and promptly control these diseases. METHODS: Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assays combined with a real-time fluorescent detection (real-time RPA assay) and lateral flow dipstick (RPA LFD assay) were developed targeting the CaPV G-protein-coupled chemokine receptor (GPCR) gene, respectively. RESULTS: The sensitivity of both CaPV real-time RPA assay and CaPV RPA LFD assay were 3 × 10(2) copies per reaction within 20 min at 38 °C. Both assays were highly specific for CaPV, with no cross-reactions with peste des petits ruminants virus, foot-and-mouth disease virus and Orf virus. The evaluation of the performance of these two assays with clinical sample (n = 107) showed that the CaPV real-time RPA assay and CaPV RPA LFD assay were able to specially detect SPPV or GTPV present in samples of ovine in liver, lung, kidney, spleen, skin and blood. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided a highly time-efficient and simple alternative for rapid detection of GTPV and SPPV. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12985-017-0792-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.