Taxonomy of the family Arenaviridae and the order Bunyavirales: update 2018

In 2018, the family Arenaviridae was expanded by inclusion of 1 new genus and 5 novel species. At the same time, the recently established order Bunyavirales was expanded by 3 species. This article presents the updated taxonomy of the family Arenaviridae and the order Bunyavirales as now accepted by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) and summarizes additional taxonomic proposals that may affect the order in the near future.

Possibility and Challenges of Conversion of Current Virus Species Names to Linnaean Binomials

Botanical, mycological, zoological, and prokaryotic species names follow the Linnaean format, consisting of an italicized Latinized binomen with a capitalized genus name and a lower case species epithet (e.g., Homo sapiens). Virus species names, however, do not follow a uniform format, and, even when binomial, are not Linnaean in style. In this thought exercise, we attempted to convert all currently official names of species included in the virus family Arenaviridae and the virus order Mononegavirales to Linnaean binomials, and to identify and address associated challenges and concerns. Surprisingly, this endeavor was not as complicated or time-consuming as even the authors of this article expected when conceiving the experiment. [Arenaviridae; binomials; ICTV; International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses; Mononegavirales; virus nomenclature; virus taxonomy.].

Early diagnosis of Lassa fever by reverse transcription-PCR

We developed a method based on a coupled reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) for the detection of Lassa virus using primers specific for regions of the S RNA segment which are well conserved between isolates from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria. The specificity of the assay was confirmed by Southern blotting with a chemiluminescent probe. The assay was able to detect 1 to 10 copies of a plasmid or an RNA transcript containing the target sequence. There was complete concordance between RT-PCR and virus culture for the detection of Lassa virus in a set of 29 positive and 32 negative serum samples obtained on admission to the hospital from patients suspected of having Lassa fever in Sierra Leone. Specificity was confirmed by the failure of amplification of specific products from serum samples collected from 129 healthy blood donors in Sierra Leone or from tissue culture supernatants from cells infected with related arenaviruses (Mopeia, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, Tacaribe, and Pichinde viruses). Sequential serum samples from 29 hospitalized patients confirmed to have Lassa fever were tested by RT-PCR and for Lassa virus-specific antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence (IF). RT-PCR detected virus RNA in 79% of the patients at the time of admission, comparing favorably with IF, which detected antibodies in only 21% of the patients. Lassa virus RNA was detected by RT-PCR in all 29 patients by the third day of admission, whereas antibody was detectable by IF in only 52% of the patients. These results point to an important role for RT-PCR in the management of suspected cases of Lassa fever.

Monoclonal immunoglobulin M antibody to Japanese encephalitis virus that can react with a nuclear antigen in mammalian cells

An immunoglobulin M (IgM) class monoclonal antibody raised against Japanese encephalitis virus reacted with an epitope on the nonstructural virus protein P74 (NV4 in the old nomenclature) of several flaviviruses and also with an antigen present in the nuclei of a variety of mammalian cell types. This antigen had a characteristic granular distribution by immunofluorescence and may correspond to a polypeptide of molecular weight 56,000 seen in nitrocellulose transfers of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Cross-reactivity with nuclear antigen was also occasionally observed in the IgM antibody fraction of mice early after infection with Japanese encephalitis virus and also in acute sera from some clinical cases of encephalitis containing IgM antibody to Japanese encephalitis virus.