High-efficiency detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome virus genetic material

A Taqman amplicon targeting the nucleocapsid gene of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is 5 log(10) times more sensitive for SARS-CoV target RNA extracted from infected cells and 2.79 log(10) times more sensitive for RNA extracted from patient material of the index case in Frankfurt than an amplicon targeting the polymerase gene.