The CDC developed a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Taqman assay and an RT-semi nested PCR (RT-snPCR) assay for the detection of parechoviruses. Similar to enteroviruses, parechoviruses are responsible for gastrointestinal, respiratory and central nervous system infections. All tests target conserved regions in the 5'-nontranslated region (5-'NTR) of the parechovirus genome and share forward and reverse primers. The Taqman probe and RTsnPCR nested primer target the same conserved site but vary in length. Both assays detect all known human parechoviruses (PPeV) and Ljungan viruses (LV), unlike other published parechovirus 5'-NTR assays, which only detect a limited number of PPeV types. Both assays are more sensitive than current methods (culture and multiple, single-serotype nucleic acid amplification assays) and may be used to test isolates or original clinical specimens.