Deployment of a Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Test for Ebola Virus Surveillance in Remote Areas in Guinea

J Infect Dis. 2016 Oct 15;214(suppl 3):S229-S233. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw255. Epub 2016 Aug 1.

Abstract

To strengthen the laboratory diagnostic capacity for Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the remote areas of Guinea, we deployed a mobile field laboratory and implemented reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) for postmortem testing. We tested 896 oral swab specimens and 21 serum samples, using both RT-LAMP and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Neither test yielded a positive result, and the results from RT-LAMP and RT-PCR were consistent. More than 95% of the samples were tested within 2 days of sample collection. These results highlight the usefulness of the RT-LAMP assay as an EVD diagnostic testing method in the field or remote areas.

Keywords: Ebola virus disease; RT-LAMP; field surveillance; mobile laboratory; postmortem testing.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Ebolavirus / genetics
  • Ebolavirus / isolation & purification*
  • Guinea / epidemiology
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / diagnosis*
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / epidemiology
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / virology
  • Humans
  • Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / methods*
  • Point-of-Care Systems*
  • RNA, Viral / analysis
  • RNA, Viral / genetics
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • RNA, Viral