Molecular diagnosis of viral diseases, present trends and future aspects: A view from the OIE Collaborating Centre for the Application of Polymerase Chain Reaction Methods for Diagnosis of Viral Diseases in Veterinary Medicine

The emergence and re-emergence of transboundary animal diseases (TADs), e.g., foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever and the highly pathogenic avian influenza strongly indicate the need for the development of powerful and robust new diagnostic methods. The experiences of an OIE-Collaborating Centre and of two EU project consortia are summarised on the diagnostic application of gel-based PCR, general PCR systems, phylogeny, molecular epidemiology, real-time PCR (TaqMan, Molecular Beacons, Primer-Probe Energy Transfer), amplification without thermocycling (Invader), multiplex PCR, nucleic acid extraction and pipetting robotics, automation and quality control, including internal controls. By following the steps of OIE validation, the diagnostic assays are nationally and internationally standardised. The development of padlock probes and microarrays, as well as ultra rapid PCR and sequencing methods is further improving the arsenal of nucleic acid based molecular diagnosis. Further trends of diagnostic development are also mentioned, in order to combat TADs and other viral infections more effectively in the future.