Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a novel human 
coronavirus that can cause human respiratory disease. The development of a 
detection method for this virus that can lead to rapid and accurate diagnosis 
would be significant. In this study, we established a nucleic acid visualization 
technique that combines the reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal 
amplification technique and a vertical flow visualization strip (RT-LAMP-VF) to 
detect the N gene of MERS-CoV. The RT-LAMP-VF assay was performed in a constant 
temperature water bath for 30 min, and the result was visible by the naked eye 
within 5 min. The RT-LAMP-VF assay was capable of detecting 2 × 101 copies/μl of 
synthesized RNA transcript and 1 × 101 copies/μl of MERS-CoV RNA. The method 
exhibits no cross-reactivities with multiple CoVs including SARS-related 
(SARSr)-CoV, HKU4, HKU1, OC43 and 229E, and thus exhibits high specificity. 
Compared to the real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR) method recommended by the World 
Health Organization (WHO), the RT-LAMP-VF assay is easy to handle, does not 
require expensive equipment and can rapidly complete detection within 35 min.