AJTMH ASTMH MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION: astmh@astmh.org
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 71(3), 2004, pp. 262-267
Copyright © 2004 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by SALEH, S. M.
Right arrow Articles by HALL, R. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by SALEH, S. M.
Right arrow Articles by HALL, R. A.
Related Collections
Right arrow Alphaviruses
Right arrow Arboviruses

ANTIGENIC AND GENETIC TYPING OF WHATAROA VIRUSES IN AUSTRALIA

SUHA M. SALEH, MICHAEL POIDINGER, JOHN S. MACKENZIE, ANNETTE K. BROOM, MICHAEL D. A. LINDSAY, RICHARD C. RUSSELL, MICHAEL J. CLOONAN, CHARLES H. CALISHER, GRAHAM W. BURGESS, AND ROY A. HALL
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland Australia; Department of Microbiology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Western Australian Health Department, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Medical Entomology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia; Department of Microbiology, Prince Henry Hospital, Little Bay, New South Wales, Australia; Arthropod-Borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

We recently characterized three novel alphaviruses isolated from mosquitoes captured in New South Wales, Australia. Initial cross-neutralization studies revealed antigenic similarity to the Sindbis virus (SINV)–like Whataroa virus (WHAV), heretofore found only in New Zealand. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed that the WHAV-like viruses shared >99% nucleotide sequence similarity with each other, and 96–97% similarity with prototype WHAV. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay reactions of a panel of monoclonal antibodies to SINV showed that the novel WHAV-like viruses displayed identical binding patterns and were antigenically distinct from all SINV isolates examined. Although these viruses displayed a similar binding pattern to prototype WHAV, three monoclonal antibodies discriminated them from the New Zealand virus. Our results suggest that these novel alphaviruses are antigenic variants of WHAV and represent the first reported isolations of this virus from outside New Zealand. The monoclonal antibodies used in this study will be useful for typing new SINV and SINV-like isolates.

Received October 21, 2003. Accepted for publication January 31, 2004.

Acknowledgments: We dedicate this work to the memory of Dr. Robert E. Shope. Dr. Shope assisted us in this work, as he did for so many of our efforts, by providing polyclonal alphavirus typing reagents. We also thank Dianne Griffin for providing reference monoclonal antibodies, Danielle Heilpern, Peter Wells, John Haniotis, and Stephen Doggett for laboratory assistance in virus isolation, and Robert Huestis for assistance with sequence submission to GenBank.

Financial support: This study was supported by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia.

Authors’ addresses: Suha M. Saleh, Michael Poidinger, John S. Mackenzie, and Roy A. Hall, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Molecular and Microbial Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia, Fax: 61-7-3365-4620, E-mail: roy.hall{at}mailbox.uq.edu.au. Annette K. Broom, Department of Microbiology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia. Michael D. A. Lindsay, Mosquito-Borne Disease Control Branch, Western Australian Department of Health, Perth, Western Australia 6849, Australia. Richard C. Russell, Department of Medical Entomology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales 2145, Australia. Michael J. Cloonan, Department of Microbiology, Prince Henry Hospital, Little Bay, New South Wales 2036, Australia. Charles H Calisher, Arthropod-Borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. Graham W. Burgess, Microbiology and Immunology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2004 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.