for Identification of Virulent and Avirulent Strains of H7N9Influenza Virus
In order to develop a method for identifying virulent andavirulent strains of H7N9 influenza virus,a pair ofspecific primers and probes were designed by comparing the HA gene sequences ofH7N9 influenza virus in Genbank and GISAID and the sequence of which wasisolated and sequenced by our laboratory,a real-timeRT-PCR method was developed,meantime,the reaction system and parameters of the method were optimized,and the specificity and sensitivity as well as its clinicalapplication were tested. The specificity test showed that,the development method didn't react with other common subtypes ofavian influenza virus and other avian virus,showing agood specificity. Sensitivity test showed that,by theRT-PCR method,the lower detection limits of HA genes ofvirulent and attenuated H7N9 strains were 0.004 fg and 0.1 fg respectively,which were all lower than the detection limits of the two kinds ofcommercial kits. By comparing and verifying 40 strains of H7N9 influenza virusisolated and identified by the laboratory,it was foundthat both the detection rate and coincidence rate were 100%. Therefore, it wasconcluded that the method could be used for rapid detection of H7N9 virus andidentifying the virulent and avirulent strains due to its advantages of goodspecificity,sensitivity and high accuracy,which was of great significance for early diagnosis and effectiveprevention and control of H7N9 virus,especially thehighly pathogenic virus.