The Microbial Detection Array for Detection of Emerging Viruses in Clinical Samples - A Useful Panmicrobial Diagnostic Tool--Array Version 2f

Emerging viruses are usually endemic to tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, but increased global travelling, climate changes and changes in lifestyle are believed to contribute to the spread of these viruses into new regions. For many of them, the disease symptoms are similar to each other, as well as to other more common diseases, making them difficult to diagnose. A rapid identification will help to decide about specific treatment and appropriate case management. Real-time PCR is commonly used for specific virus detection in clinical samples. A diagnostic microarray containing probes for all human viruses, could replace hundreds of specific PCR-reactions and identify all viruses by one assay and thereby remove the need for a clear clinical hypothesis. We show that the Microbial Detection Array successfully identifies emerging viruses present in both non-clinical and clinical samples. Twenty-four clinical samples and 40 non-clinical samples (cell culture supernantants or purified viral DNA or RNA) were analyzed for presence of emerging viruses using the MDA microarray.