RESEARCH ARTICLE Real-Time Sequence-Validated Loop- Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assays for Detection of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) Sanchita Bhadra1, Yu Sherry Jiang1, Mia R. Kumar2, Reed F. Johnson2, Lisa E. Hensley3, Andrew D. Ellington1* 1 Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of America, 2 Emerging Viral Pathogens Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Fort Detrick, Maryland, United States of America, 3 Integrated Research Facility, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Fort Detrick, Maryland, United States of America *