Universal primers that amplify RNA from all three flavivirus subgroups.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Species within the Flavivirus genus pose public health problems around the world. Increasing cases of Dengue and Japanese encephalitis virus in Asia, frequent outbreaks of Yellow fever virus in Africa and South America, and the ongoing spread of West Nile virus throughout the Americas, show the geographical burden of flavivirus diseases. Flavivirus infections are often indistinct from and confused with other febrile illnesses. Here we review the specificity of published primers, and describe a new universal primer pair that can detect a wide range of flaviviruses, including viruses from each of the recognised subgroups.

Results

Bioinformatic analysis of 257 published full-length Flavivirus genomes revealed conserved regions not previously targeted by primers. Two

SUBMITTER: Maher-Sturgess SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2263041 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature