Utility of a Panviral Microarray for Detection of Swine Respiratory Viruses in Clinical Samples

Authors: Nicholson, Tracy; KUKIELKA, DEBORAH - Complutense University Of Madrid (UCM); Baker, Amy; Brockmeier, Susan; Miller, Laura; Faaberg, Kay

Submitted to: Journal of Clinical Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/14/2011
Publication Date: 4/1/2011
Citation: Nicholson, T.L., Kukielka, D., Vincent, A.L., Brockmeier, S.L., Miller, L.C., Faaberg, K.S. 2011. Utility of a panviral microarray for detection of swine respiratory viruses in clinical samples. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 49(4):1542-1548.

Interpretive Summary: Several factors have recently converged elevating the need for highly parallel diagnostic platforms that have the ability to detect many known, novel, and emerging pathogenic agents simultaneously. Panviral DNA microarrays represent the most robust approach for massively parallel viral surveillance and detection. The Virochip is a panviral DNA microarray that is capable of detecting all known viruses, as well as novel viruses related to known viral families in a single assay, and has been used to successfully to identify known and novel viral agents in clinical human specimens. In this report, we investigated the utility and sensitivity of the Virochip to positively detect swine viruses in both cell culture-derived samples and clinical swine samples. The swine viruses chosen in this investigation represent the most important viral pathogens in terms of impact on both health and economic loss to the U.S. swine producers. We found the Virochip could successfully detect porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRSV), swine influenza A, porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2), and porcine respiratory coronavirus (PRC) in clinical swine samples. Collectively, the data in this report demonstrate that the Virochip can successfully detect pathogenic viruses frequently found in swine in a variety of solid and liquid specimens, such as turbinate tissue homogenate and lung lavage, as well as ante mortem samples, such as serum. These results will directly benefit individuals working in a clinical veterinary setting, including diagnosticians and veterinarians, and the swine industry.

Technical Abstract: Several factors have recently converged elevating the need for highly parallel diagnostic platforms that have the ability to detect many known, novel, and emerging pathogenic agents simultaneously. Panviral DNA microarrays represent the most robust approach for massively parallel viral surveillance and detection. The Virochip is a panviral DNA microarray that is capable of detecting all known viruses, as well as novel viruses related to known viral families in a single assay, and has been used to successfully identify known and novel viral agents in clinical human specimens. However, the usefulness and the sensitivity of the Virochip platform has not been tested on a set of clinical veterinary specimens with the high degree of genetic variance that is frequently observed in swine virus field isolates. In this report, we investigated the utility and sensitivity of the Virochip to positively detect swine viruses in both cell culture derived samples and clinical swine samples. The swine viruses chosen in this investigation represent the most important viral pathogens in terms of impact on both health and economic loss to the US swine producers. We demonstrate that the Virochip can successfully detect porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, influenza A, porcine circovirus type 2, and porcine respiratory coronavirus in clinical swine samples. Collectively, the data in this report demonstrate that the Virochip can successfully detect pathogenic viruses frequently found in swine in a variety of solid and liquid specimens, such as turbinate tissue homogenate and lung lavage, as well as ante mortem samples, such as serum.