title: Detection of Zaire Ebola virus by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Sierra Leone, 2014.
abstract: During the 2014 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was established to detect and identify the Zaire Ebola virus. We describe the use of this assay to screen 315 clinical samples from EVD suspected person in Sierra Leone. The detection rate in blood samples was 77.81% (207/266), and there were relatively higher detection rate (79.32% and 81.42%, respectively) during the first two weeks after onset of symptoms. In the two weeks that followed, the detection rate declined to 66.67% and 25.00%, respectively. There was the highest virus load at the first week and then decreased. The detection rate in swab samples was 89.79% (44/49). This may be benefit from the included patients. 46 of 49 swab samples were collected from died patients. Taken together, the results presented here indicate that the assay specifically and sensitively detects Zaire Ebola virus.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Dongdajie Road 20, Beijing 100071, China.
authors.forename: Licheng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The China Mobile Laboratory Testing Team in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Brima
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kargbo
authors.affiliation: National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, Beijing 100050, China.
authors.forename: Chuntao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing BGI-GBI Biotech Co., Ltd, Beijing 101300, China.
authors.forename: Huahua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: The China Mobile Laboratory Testing Team in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Huijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: The China Mobile Laboratory Testing Team in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Wenseng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The China Mobile Laboratory Testing Team in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Chengyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The China Mobile Laboratory Testing Team in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: The China Mobile Laboratory Testing Team in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Yongqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: The China Mobile Laboratory Testing Team in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone.
authors.forename: Jiafu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Dongdajie Road 20, Beijing 100071, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Beijing BGI-GBI Biotech Co., Ltd, Beijing 101300, China.
authors.forename: Honglei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Dongdajie Road 20, Beijing 100071, China.
authors.forename: Yongqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Dongdajie Road 20, Beijing 100071, China.
authors.forename: Yinhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Electronic address: dkkargbo@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kargbo
authors.affiliation: The China Mobile Laboratory Testing Team in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone. Electronic address: qianj1970@126.com.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Beijing BGI-GBI Biotech Co., Ltd, Beijing 101300, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: chenwj@genomics.org.cn.
authors.forename: Weijun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012807:Sierra Leone; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Ebola virus disease; Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR); Zaire Ebola virus