Development of pan-phlebovirus RT-PCR assay

• Phlebovirus PCR assay targeting both tick- and sandfly/mosquito-borne viruses was designed.
• Sensitivity and specificity was tested on a panel of arboviruses.
• The assay is simple and affordable for large-scale screening.

This study reports the pan-phlebovirus assay capable of detecting both sandfly/mosquito- and tick-borne phleboviruses. Sensitivity and specificity of the assay was verified using a panel of arboviruses. The RT-PCR assay is simple and sensitive, and thus well suited for screening of field samples.