Transplantation Safety: New Virus Detected Using Genome Sequencer Technology
454 Life Sciences, a part of Roche Applied Science, announced that researchers at Columbia University and Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory have discovered a new virus that was responsible for the deaths of three transplant recipients. The research explains how the previously unknown virus, which is related to lymphocytic choreomeningitis virus, was published New England Journal of medicine. The study entitled, "Discovery and implication of a novel arenavirus in a cluster of fatal transplant associated disease," describes how identification of this virus might enable improvements in screening that will enhance the safety of transplantation.
Following the deaths of all three recipients of organs from a single donor, their illnesses were investigated by unbiased high throughput 454 Sequencing to reveal the presence of a previously undiscovered old world arenavirus. The virus, similar to lymphocytic choreomeningitis virus and Kodoko virus, was subsequently confirmed in multiple clinical samples by PCR, viral culture and immunohistochemistry. Results of the study implicate this new arenavirus as a human pathogen and support the use of high throughput sequencing in pathogen discovery.
"Within a few days we had clues to the identity of the virus responsible for transplant deaths" said Ian Lipkin, MD, lead author of the study and John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and Professor of Neurology and Pathology at Columbia University and director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Mailman School of Public Health. "We made this investigation highest priority. Our success reflected the tireless efforts of an extraordinary team of investigators representing academia, public health and industry, who brought all of their expertise and technology to bear on an important clinical problem."
Lymphocytic choreomeningits virus has been implicated in other transplant outbreaks; however, the newly discovered virus is sufficiently different that it could not be detected using existing screening and traditional sequencing methods all requiring prior knowledge of exact sequence of the suspected pathogen.
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