Autor(es): Abd El Wahed A., Patel P., Faye O., Nentwich O., Wende A., Piepenburg O., Sall A., Weidmann M.

Resumo: INTRODUCTION The current outbreak of Ebola has killed over 10 000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Early identification and isolation of the infected Ebola cases are the most important control measures. Detection of the Ebola virus by using the rapid antigen lateral flow tests is an easy to be applied at the point-of-care. Nevertheless, the results must be confirmed by additional laboratory tests. Laboratory diagnosis mainly depends on Ebola RNA detection by reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which is available in central laboratories and has a turnaround time of more than 3 h. For decentralized low resource settings, there is a need for a simple molecular point-of-need test. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, a mobile suitcase laboratory (62× 49× 30 cm) containing all reagents and equipment for the detection of Ebola RNA was developed. Moreover, it was operated by a solar power battery. All reagents were cold-chain independent in order to ease the use at poor resource settings. RNA extraction was performed by a magnetic bead based method, in which a simple fast lysis protocol was applied. In one reaction tube, the reverse transcription step as well as the DNA amplification and detection by the recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assay was achieved. RESULTS Using spiked plasma samples, as few as 15 Ebola RNA copies were detected in less than 30 min, while samples containing Crimean-Congo-Hemorrhagic-Fever, Yellow Fever, Lassa, Marburg, Rift Valley Fever, Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika viruses and Plasmodium falciparum were negative. CONCLUSION The mobile suitcase laboratory is ideal for rapid sensitive and specific detection of Ebola virus especially at low resource settings. Currently, two mobile suitcase laboratories are being used in Guinea.

Palavras-Chave: Ebolavirus, European, laboratory, public health, tropical medicine

Imprenta: Tropical Medicine and International Health, v. 20, supl. 1, p. 29-30, set. 2015

Descritores: Zika virus - DNA ; Zika virus - RNA ; Zika virus - Molecular methods ; Zika virus - PCR detection ; Zika virus - Real Time PCR ; Zika virus - RNA virus ; Zika virus - RT-PCR ; Zika virus - Chikungunya Fever ; Zika virus - Dengue ; Zika virus - Public health ; Zika virus - Zika fever

Data de publicação: 2015

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