title: Development of an ELISA to detect Sin Nombre virus-specific IgM from deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus).
abstract: Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse) is the primary reservoir for Sin Nombre virus (SNV). Although the presence of IgG antibodies is often used as a marker of infection, it provides little information on active infections in a population but usually is an indicator of past infections. The presence of IgM antibodies is a much better marker for determining whether active infections are present in a population. A mu-capture SNV-specific IgM enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed. From live-trap and release studies a total of 68 rodent sera were studied for the presence of Sin Nombre virus-specific IgG and IgM antibodies. In these studies, IgM responses were detected in a number of animals. In some cases early SNV infection was determined through the presence of anti-SNV IgM before IgG antibodies could be detected. From the set of animals analyzed, it was concluded that the IgM response against SNV can persist anywhere from 1 to up to over 2 months, with a median of less than 1 month. Most importantly, it was demonstrated that anti-Sin Nombre virus IgM is an important tool for detection of early infections in rodents and should be considered as a key diagnostic tool.
authors.affiliation: University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, 1664 N Virginia St. MS 200, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Mariana G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bego
authors.affiliation: University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, 1664 N Virginia St. MS 200, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Darcy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bawiec
authors.affiliation: University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, 1664 N Virginia St. MS 200, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dandge
authors.affiliation: Brigham Young University, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.affiliation: University of Utah, Biology Department, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dearing
authors.affiliation: Brigham Young University, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, 1664 N Virginia St. MS 200, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: St Jeor
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D018804:Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis*; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis*; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D029261:Sin Nombre virus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M