High-throughput procedure for tick surveys of tick-borne encephalitis virus and its application in a national surveillance study in Switzerland

Gäumann, Rahel; Mühlemann, Kathrin; Strasser, Marc; Beuret, Christian M (2010). High-throughput procedure for tick surveys of tick-borne encephalitis virus and its application in a national surveillance study in Switzerland. Applied and environmental microbiology, 76(13), pp. 4241-9. Washington, D.C.: American Society for Microbiology 10.1128/AEM.00391-10

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Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), a viral infection of the central nervous system, is endemic in many Eurasian countries. In Switzerland, TBE risk areas have been characterized by geographic mapping of clinical cases. Since mass vaccination should significantly decrease the number of TBE cases, alternative methods for exposure risk assessment are required. We established a new PCR-based test for the detection of TBE virus (TBEV) in ticks. The protocol involves an automated, high-throughput nucleic acid extraction method (QIAsymphony SP system) and a one-step duplex real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay for the detection of European subtype TBEV, including an internal process control. High usability, reproducibility, and equivalent performance for virus concentrations down to 5 x 10(3) viral genome equivalents/microl favor the automated protocol compared to the modified guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction procedure. The real-time RT-PCR allows fast, sensitive (limit of detection, 10 RNA copies/microl), and specific (no false-positive test results for other TBEV subtypes, other flaviviruses, or other tick-transmitted pathogens) detection of European subtype TBEV. The new detection method was applied in a national surveillance study, in which 62,343 Ixodes ricinus ticks were screened for the presence of TBE virus. A total of 38 foci of endemicity could be identified, with a mean virus prevalence of 0.46%. The foci do not fully agree with those defined by disease mapping. Therefore, the proposed molecular test procedure constitutes a prerequisite for an appropriate TBE surveillance. Our data are a unique complement of human TBE disease case mapping in Switzerland.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute for Infectious Diseases
UniBE Contributor:	Mühlemann, Kathrin
ISSN:	0099-2240
Publisher:	American Society for Microbiology
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:12
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:02
Publisher DOI:	10.1128/AEM.00391-10
PubMed ID:	20453126
Web of Science ID:	000279082800015
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/2692 (FactScience: 205559)