• James C McAvin, Michael D Powers, Jamie A Blow, John L Putnam, William B Huff, and James A Swaby.
• U.S. Air Force Institute for Operational Health, Brooks City-Base, San Antonio, TX 78235-5237, USA.
• Mil Med. 2007 Mar 1; 172 (3): 329-34.

AbstractDengue virus universal and serotype 1 to 4 fluorogenic probe hydrolysis, reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays and positive-control RNA template were freeze-dried in a thermally stable, hydrolytic enzyme-resistant format and deployed for testing in a dengue fever-endemic region of Thailand. The study site presented austere testing conditions. Field-collected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spiked with inoculated A. aegypti mosquitoes and individual and pooled, field-collected, A. aegypti, A. albopictus, and Culex tritaeniorhynchus mosquitoes were used for RT-PCR assay evaluations. For dengue virus-inoculated A. aegypti mosquitoes and spiked samples, in vitro sensitivity and specificity results for all five assays were concordant with indirect fluorescent antibody assay results. A single pool of field-collected, female, A. aegypti mosquitoes was identified as dengue virus positive. Cross-reactivity was not observed across heterologous serotypes, mosquito vectors, or human DNA. The limit of detection was >7 to < or =70 genomic equivalents. Sample processing and analysis required <2 hours. These results show promise of field-formatted RT-PCR reagents for rapid, sensitive, specific dengue virus screening and serotype identification in mosquitoes under field-deployed conditions.

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