Detection of African swine fever virus utilizing the portable MatMaCorp ASF detection system.

African swine fever (ASF) has emerged as a major threat to domestic and wild suid populations, and its continued spread threatens commercial swine production worldwide. The causative agent of ASF, African swine fever virus (ASFV), possesses a linear, double stranded DNA genome. Traditional detection of ASFV relies on laboratory-based virus isolation or real-time PCR of samples, typically blood or spleen, obtained from suspect cases. While effective, these methodologies are not easily field deployable, a major limitation during disease outbreak and response management scenarios. In this report, we evaluated the MatMaCorp Solas 8® ASFV detection system, a field deployable DNA extraction and fluorescent detection device, for its ability to extract and detect ASFV from multiple sample types obtained from domestic swine experimentally infected with ASFV strain Georgia. We found that the MatMaCorp Solas 8® ASFV detection device, and affiliated MagicTip™ DNA extraction and C-SAND™ assay kits, readily detected ASFV in blood and spleen, as well as other sample types, including pinna, liver, skin, muscle and bone marrow.

Performance Evaluation of the MatMaCorp COVID-19 2SF Assay for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 from Nasopharyngeal Swabs.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has taken an unprecedented toll on clinical diagnostic testing, and the need for PCR-based testing remains to be met. Nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) is the recommended method for the diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) due to the inherent advantages in sensitivity and specificity. In this study, we evaluated the performance of the MatMaCorp COVID-19 2SF test, a reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 from nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, run on the Solas 8 instrument (MatMaCorp, Lincoln, NE). The Solas 8 device is portable, and the kit is a lab-in-a-box design which provides reagents in a shelf-stable lyophilized powder format. A total of 78 remnant clinical specimens were used to evaluate the COVID-19 2SF test. Sixty-two clinical specimens originally tested by the Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 assay (Cepheid, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) were used to evaluate the clinical accuracy of the COVID-19 2SF test. The negative percent agreement (NPA) was 100% (95% confidence interval [CI], 83.9% to 100%), and the positive percent agreement (PPA) was 85.4% (95% CI, 70.8% to 94.4%). Sixteen remnant specimens positive for other common respiratory pathogens (FilmArray respiratory panel 2.0; BioFire, Salt Lake City, UT) were assayed on the Solas 8 device to evaluate specificity. No cross-reactivity with other respiratory pathogens was identified. The unique lab-in-a-box design and shelf-stable reagents of the MatMaCorp COVID-19 2SF test offer laboratories a rapid option for a diagnostic NAAT for SARS-CoV-2 that can help meet diagnostic needs. IMPORTANCE The demand for molecular testing for COVID-19 remains to be met. This study of the MatMaCorp Solas 8 device and COVID-19 test provides the first evaluation of this platform.