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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Evaluation of a Universal Nested Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction for the Detection of Lyssaviruses
Published on: May 2, 2019
Development of a hemi-nested RT-PCR method for the specific determination of European Bat Lyssavirus 1. Comparison
E Picard-Meyer1, V Bruyère, J Barrat
1Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments, AFSSA-Nancy, Domaine de Pixérécourt, BP 9, Malzéville F-54220, France. e.picard@nancy.afssa.fr
Abstract:
A simplified hemi-nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (hnRT-PCR) has been developed to determine specifically the European Bat Lyssavirus 1 (EBLV-1) nucleoprotein gene. The specificity of this method was determined by using the seven genotypes of lyssavirus by RT-PCR, Southern blot and sequence analysis. Compared to the rabies diagnostic methods, the hnRT-PCR showed a higher sensitivity for the detection of small amounts of EBLV-1 virus. In view of these results, we suggest this new hnRT-PCR should be performed for the epidemiological survey of bat colonies, also providing rapid detection and genotyping of EBLV-1 until now encountered in all naturally infected bats in France.

