RT-PCR assays for seven serotypes of epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus & their use to type strains from the Mediterranean region and North America.

ABSTRACT: Epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) infects wild ruminants, causing a frequently fatal haemorrhagic disease. However, it can also cause bluetongue-like disease in cattle, involving significant levels of morbidity and mortality, highlighting a need for more rapid and reliable diagnostic assays. EHDV outer-capsid protein VP2 (encoded by genome-segment 2 [Seg-2]) is highly variable and represents the primary target for neutralising antibodies generated by the mammalian host. Consequently VP2 is also the primary determinant of virus "serotype", as identified in virus neutralisation tests (VNT). Although previous reports have indicated eight to ten EHDV serotypes, recent serological comparisons and molecular analyses of Seg-2 indicate only seven EHDV "types". Oligonucleotide primers wer

SUBMITTER: Maan NS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2941451 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature