DEFINITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF LOUPING ILL VIRUS BY RT-PCR AND SEQUENCING IN-FIELD POPULATIONS OF IXODES-RICINUS ON THE LOCHINDORB ESTATE

Rapid and precise virus detection procedures component of any epizooti ological study. An automated one tube reverse transcriptase and nested primer polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by nucleotide sequ encing of the cDNA product, was used for the rapid detection and ident ification of louping ill (LI) virus in field caught Ixodes ricinus and compared with a classical isolation method i.e. infectivity in cell c ulture. The results establish the genetic identity of LI virus on the Lochindorb Estate. There was a high correlation between the results ob tained by RT-PCR and infectivity assays. RT-PCR and sequencing proved to be a rapid and accurate system for identifying LI virus in field sp ecimens. Development of this system should improve the capacity to und ertake detailed epizootiological studies of LI virus.