To improve the sensitivity of a kit, ESPLINE INFLUENZA A&B for rapid diagnosis of influenza by detecting influenza A or B virus specific nucleoproteins (NP), the ESPLINE INFLUENZA A&B-N was developed by using newly established monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to the respective NP molecule. MAbs FVA2-11 and FrB1-03 recognize the epitope on the amino acid region 59-130aa of the NP molecule of influenza A virus, and that on the region 72-191aa of the NP of influenza B virus, respectively. The new kit detected influenza A and B virus antigens with a detection limit of 10(2.0)-10 (2.7) pfu/test, which is 4-1000 times higher than that of the original kit. Importantly, this kit detected each of influenza A viruses of the known hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes (H1-H15) including the H5N1 viruses recently isolated from human and avian sources in Asia. The kit also detected all of the 15 representative influenza B virus strains tested. The ESPLINE INFLUENZA A&B-N is thus a rapid and highly sensitive and specific kit for the diagnosis of either influenza A or B virus infections.