Development of Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase PCR Assays for the Detection of Punta Toro Virus and Pichinde Virus
Abstract
Research with high biocontainment pathogens such as Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) and Lassa virus (LASV) is expensive, potentially hazardous, and limited to select institutions. Surrogate pathogens such as Punta Toro virus (PTV) for RVFV infection and Pichinde virus (PICV) for LASV infection allow research to be performed under more permissive BSL-2 conditions. Although used as infection models, PTV and PICV have no standard real-time RT-PCR assays to detect and quantify pathogenesis. PTV is also a human pathogen, making a standardized detection assay essential for biosurveillance. Here, we developed and characterized two real-time RT-PCR assays for PICV and PTV by optimizing assay conditions and measuring the limit of detection (LOD) and performance in multiple clinical matrices.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 09, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1009281
Entities
People
- Christopher P. Stefan
- David A. Kulesh
- Jeffrey W. Koehler
- Kitty Chase
- Susan Coyne
- Timothy D Minogue
Organizations
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases