Shirato Kazuya, Mizutani Tetsuya, Kariwa Hiroaki, Takashima Ikuo
Laboratory of Public Health, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0818, Japan.
Microbiol Immunol. 2003;47(6):439-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1348-0421.2003.tb03381.x.
West Nile (WN) virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that induces lethal encephalitis in humans and horses. Since an outbreak of WN encephalitis in humans and horses occurred in New York City in late August 1999, the possibility exists that WN virus will invade regions that have close links with the United States, such as Japan. We developed a genetic diagnostic method that discriminates between strains of WN virus and Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus. The method involves RT-PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis with a RT-PCR primer set, a nested PCR primer set, and a restriction enzyme. We detected WN and JE viruses in experimentally infected animal brain, spleen, and serum samples. Our method is useful in distinguishing WN viruses from the endemic background of JE viruses, and in discriminating the highly virulent WN strain, which was isolated in New York in 1999, from other WN virus strains.
西尼罗河（WN）病毒是一种由蚊子传播的黄病毒，可在人类和马匹中引发致命性脑炎。自1999年8月下旬纽约市发生人类和马匹的西尼罗河脑炎疫情以来，西尼罗河病毒有可能侵入与美国联系密切的地区，如日本。我们开发了一种基因诊断方法，可区分西尼罗河病毒株和日本脑炎（JE）病毒株。该方法包括使用一组逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）引物、一组巢式PCR引物和一种限制性内切酶进行RT-PCR限制性片段长度多态性（RFLP）分析。我们在实验感染动物的脑、脾和血清样本中检测到了西尼罗河病毒和日本脑炎病毒。我们的方法有助于从日本脑炎病毒的地方性背景中区分出西尼罗河病毒，以及将1999年在纽约分离出的高毒力西尼罗河病毒株与其他西尼罗河病毒株区分开来。
