Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) technology is a paper-based, point-of-care strip biosensor designed to detect a specific analyte in a given sample. This type of assay is now of great interest to researchers for its cost-effectiveness, simplicity, portability and rapidness of detection of analytes, including but not limited to areas such as agriculture, food, biomedicine and pathogen detection. Various nanoparticles (such as metal nanoparticles, carbon-based nanoparticles, quantum dots, lanthanides and up-converting phosphor) functionalized by an antibody to detect an analyte protein or molecular marker present in the surface of an infectious pathogen are used for in LFIAs. Herein, we review the principle of the assay and recent advancements made in terms of the different approaches and designs of the assay towards the detection of infectious agents and diseases.