Patent ID: 8142997

Claim:
A multiplex method for identifying coronavirus in a sample, comprising the steps of: a) providing i) a sample comprising RNA from at least one coronavirus strain, wherein each of said at least one coronavirus strain RNA comprises genomic RNA and subgenomic RNA, wherein said genomic RNA comprises a polymerase gene 1b coding region and a sequence encoding a Spike (S) glycoprotein, ii) a plurality of primers capable of amplifying said genomic RNA and said subgenomic RNA, wherein said primers are selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 8, SEQ ID NO: 9, SEQ ID NO: 10, and SEQ ID NO: 11, b) contacting said genomic and subgenomic RNA from at least one coronavirus strain with said plurality of primers, wherein a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction creates a first amplicon and a second amplicon; c) detecting said second amplicon as comprising a coronavirus leader sequence.