Real-time PCR-based SARS-CoV-2 detection in Canadian laboratories

Jason J LeBlanc; Jonathan B Gubbay; Yan Li; Robert Needle; Sandra Radons Arneson; Dionne Marcino; Hugues Charest; Guillaume Desnoyers; Kerry Dust; Ramzi Fattouh; Richard Garceau; Gregory German; Todd F Hatchette; Robert A Kozak; Mel Krajden; Theodore Kuschak; Amanda L S Lang; Paul Levett; Tony Mazzulli; Ryan McDonald; Samira Mubareka; Natalie Prystajecky; Candy Rutherford; Marek Smieja; Yang Yu; George Zahariadis; Nathan Zelyas; Nathalie Bastien; COVID-19 Pandemic Diagnostics Investigation Team of the Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network (CPHLN) Respiratory Virus Working Group

doi:10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104433

Real-time PCR-based SARS-CoV-2 detection in Canadian laboratories

J Clin Virol. 2020 Jul:128:104433. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104433. Epub 2020 May 13.

Authors

Jason J LeBlanc¹, Jonathan B Gubbay², Yan Li³, Robert Needle⁴, Sandra Radons Arneson³, Dionne Marcino³, Hugues Charest⁵, Guillaume Desnoyers⁶, Kerry Dust⁷, Ramzi Fattouh⁸, Richard Garceau⁶, Gregory German⁹, Todd F Hatchette¹⁰, Robert A Kozak¹¹, Mel Krajden¹², Theodore Kuschak³, Amanda L S Lang¹³, Paul Levett¹², Tony Mazzulli¹⁴, Ryan McDonald¹³, Samira Mubareka¹¹, Natalie Prystajecky¹², Candy Rutherford¹⁵, Marek Smieja¹⁵, Yang Yu⁴, George Zahariadis⁴, Nathan Zelyas¹⁶, Nathalie Bastien³; COVID-19 Pandemic Diagnostics Investigation Team of the Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network (CPHLN) Respiratory Virus Working Group

Affiliations

¹ Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), Room 404B, MacKenzie Building, 5788 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 1V8, Canada; Departments of Pathology, Medicine, and Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Electronic address: jason.leblanc@nshealth.ca.
² Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Public Health Ontario Laboratories, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ National Microbiology Laboratory (NML), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
⁴ Public Health and Microbiology Laboratory, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
⁵ Laboratoire De Santé Publique Du Québec/INSPQ, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada.
⁶ Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Dr. Georges L. Dumont, Moncton, New-Brunswick, Canada.
⁷ Cadham Provincial Laboratory, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
⁸ Department of Laboratory Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
¹⁰ Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), Room 404B, MacKenzie Building, 5788 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 1V8, Canada; Departments of Pathology, Medicine, and Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Public Health Laboratory, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
¹³ Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory (RRPL), Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
¹⁴ Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁵ St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁶ Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), Room 404B, MacKenzie Building, 5788 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 1V8, Canada; Provincial Laboratory for Public Health (ProvLab), Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Abstract

With emergence of pandemic COVID-19, rapid and accurate diagnostic testing is essential. This study compared laboratory-developed tests (LDTs) used for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Canadian hospital and public health laboratories, and some commercially available real-time RT-PCR assays. Overall, analytical sensitivities were equivalent between LDTs and most commercially available methods.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Molecular; NAAT; PCR; SARS-CoV-2.

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification*
COVID-19
COVID-19 Testing
COVID-19 Vaccines
Canada
Clinical Laboratory Techniques / methods*
Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
Coronavirus Infections / virology
Humans
Laboratories
Limit of Detection
Pandemics*
Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis*
Pneumonia, Viral / virology
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
SARS-CoV-2