Detection and identification of rabies and rabies-related viruses using rapid-cycle PCR

The rapid identification of suspect rabies infection is essential in human cases, to ensure appropriate post-exposure treatment of contacts, and in an imal cases to allow specific control strategies to be decided and implement ed. We describe here the use of high speed air thermo-cycler PCR as a diagn ostic tool for the detection of rabies and rabies-related viruses. Using th is technique we were able to diagnose rabies in a human within 5 h. Further more, the application of automated sequencing of the resultant product enab led a definitive characterisation of classical rabies within 16 h. The util ity of this assay was confirmed further by the successful detection of repr esentatives of the six lyssavirus genotypes. Crown copyright (C) 1999 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.