Forensic signatures for Marburgviruses.

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Forensic Science
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Marburgvirus is a highly infectious and fatal hemorrhagic fever virus.
• It poses a significant biothreat due to easy transmission, including respiratory routes.
• Existing detection assays lack forensic application capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate high-resolution forensic assays for Marburgvirus.
• To enable accurate genotyping of Marburgvirus strains and outbreaks for forensic analysis.

Main Methods:

• Phylogenetic analysis of Marburgvirus strains and isolates.
• Identification of canonical single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for clades and strains.
• Design and screening of TaqMan-MGB allelic discrimination assays targeting identified SNPs.

Main Results:

• Developed 45 validated forensic assays with 100% clade coverage and 91% strain coverage.
• Assays demonstrated robustness with built-in redundancy.
• Successfully performed accurate forensic analysis on three unknown Marburgvirus samples.

Conclusions:

• The developed Marburgvirus forensic assays provide high-resolution genotyping capabilities.
• These assays facilitate rapid and accurate identification crucial for forensic investigations.
• The assays represent a significant advancement in Marburgvirus forensic analysis.