Although the extreme genetic variability of infl uenza viruses is a challenge for design of molecular-based diagnostic tests. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a widely used molecular tool that has been applied to both infl uenza virus detection and subtype characterization of virus isolates. Most infl uenza A PCR assays in use target conserved regions of the M gene and therefore should detect infl uenza A from all established subtypes, including the newly emergent novel H1N1 infl uenza. However, such methods need to be complemented with a rapid subtyping test to distinguish seasonal infl uenza A from novel H1N1 2009 infl uenza virus. Multiplex PCR testing for the detection of respiratory viruses has seen major advances over the past decade resulting in the development of several commercially available tests. These tests can amplify one or more genes from a number of respiratory viruses and detect amplifi ed products using microgene arrays. One such assay the xTAGTM RVP test was developed in 2005 immediately following SARS and H5N1 infl uenza and was designed to detect and type the three infl uenza A subtypes circulating at that time viz. H1, H3 and H5 [21, 22] .