ABSTRACT
Influenza viruses are a chief respiratory pathogen that infects a large number of reptiles, birds and animals. Influenza can be of numerous types and is primarily caused by four influenza viruses, IAV, IBV, ICV and IDV, that belong to the orthomyxoviridae family and during local outbreaks, seasonal epidemics and sporadic pandemics cause acute respiratory illness. Influenza infects a broad variety of animals that include ducks, bats, dogs, cats, whales, seals, pigs, chickens, horses and humans. Influenza acts as major threat, infecting a large number of populations every year and in spite of progression in vaccine and virus research, it remains a major health concern. Undiagnosed viral infections that remain untreated have severe and often fatal effects, so early diagnosis plays a main role in accurate treatment when vaccines and other preventive methods are not impeccable. There are different diagnostic approaches that are currently used to diagnose influenza infections in humans and animals. These include viral isolation in a cell culture, nucleic acid amplification tests, immunochromatography-based rapid diagnostic tests, immunofluorescence assays etc. There are many limitations in conventional diagnostic approaches, such as methods like rapid diagnostic tests lacking specificity or time and cost savings, so new methods are being developed which are accurate, fast and cost-effective. This chapter discusses various novel diagnostic techniques that are currently offered for the detection of influenza infection.
