A one-step RT-PCR assay to detect and discriminate porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses in clinical specimens

•The one-step RT-PCR was specific.•The sensitivity of one-step RT-PCR was 25 copies/μL for both C-PRRSV and HP-PRRSV.•The one-step RT-PCR can discriminate HP-PRRSV and C-PRRSV.•The detection result of one-step RT-PCR was 100% correlated with two other methods.•The assay can be done in 2 h.

Outbreaks of highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (HP-PRRSV) have led to large economic losses and, subsequently, have drawn great attention to its diagnosis and prevention. To facilitate rapid discrimination of HP-PRRSV from classical PRRSV (C-PRRSV), we developed a one-step RT-PCR assay. Primer specificities were evaluated with RNA extracted from 8 viral strains and our results revealed that the primers had a high specificity for PRRSV. The assay sensitivity was 25 copies/μL for both HP-PRRSV and C-PRRSV. A total of 929 serum samples were identified, of which 20.45% were HP-PRRSV-positive and 1.51% were C-PRRSV-positive, which was completely consistent with that of immunochromatochemistry and sequencing method. The proposed assay can detect the virus 2 days prior the onset of symptoms and it can be performed in 2 h, thereby providing a rapid method to discriminate HP-PRRSV from C-PRRSV for the identification and prevention of PRRSV infections.