title: Characterisation of a chikungunya virus from a German patient returning from Mauritius and development of a serological test.
abstract: We have isolated a Chikungunya (Chik) virus from a patient who returned to Germany after a three-month visit to Mauritius in spring 2006. Upon return she developed a transient fever up to 40 degrees C. This was followed by myalgia and joint pain. IgG antibodies in serum to Chik virus were undetectable. Virus (Chik-Wü1) was isolated on Vero cells. We molecularly cloned the whole genome of Chik-Wü1 from viral RNA by RT-PCR. The complete sequence was determined and functional domains of the genome were assigned. Chik-Wü1 clearly belongs to the group of viruses analysed from the recent Indian Ocean outbreak. In order to develop tools useful for further characterization of Chik-Wü1, we bacterially expressed and purified the capsid (C) and envelope (E) proteins and established an immunoblot assay. Twenty-two of 30 serum samples from Chik virus-infected patients that scored positive in indirect immunofluorescence previously were also reactive in immunoblot analysis with recombinant C and E2 antigens.
authors: Institut für Virologie und Immunbiologie, Universität Würzburg, Versbacher Str. 7, 97078, Wurzburg, Germany.
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Kowalzik
authors: Nghia Vu
authors: NV
authors: Xuan
authors: Benedikt
authors: B
authors: Weissbrich
authors: Barbara
authors: B
authors: Scheiner
authors: Tanja
authors: T
authors: Schied
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Drosten
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Müller
authors: August
authors: A
authors: Stich
authors: Axel
authors: A
authors: Rethwilm
authors: Jochen
authors: J
authors: Bodem
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018354:Alphavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D000818:Animals; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002646:Chikungunya virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods*; D008436:Mauritius; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D014195:Travel; D014709:Vero Cells; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins