Identification of Dobrava, Hantaan, Seoul, and Puumala viruses by one-step real-time RT-PCR

We developed four assays for specifically identifying Dobrava (DOB), Hantaan (HTN), Puumala (PUU), and Seoul (SEO) viruses. The assays are based on the real-time one-step reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with the small segment used as the target sequence. The detection limits of DOB, HTN, PUU, and SEO assays were 25, 25, 25, and 12.5 plaque-forming units, respectively. The assays were evaluated in blinded experiments, each with 100 sample's that contained Andes, Black Creek Canal, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Rift Valley fever and Sin Nombre viruses in addition to DOB, HTN, PUU and SEO viruses. The sensitivity levels of the DOB, HTN, PUU, and SEO assays were 98%, 96%, 92% and 94%, respectively. The specificity of DOB, HTN and SEO assays was 100% and the specificity of the PUU assay was 98%. Because of the high levels of sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility, we believe that these assays can be useful for diagnosing and differentiating these four Old-World hantaviruses. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.