Rapid detection of the emerging tick-borne Tamdy virus by TaqMan-based real-time reverse transcription PCR

Tamdy virus (TAMV) is an emerging zoonotic tick-borne arbovirus in the genus Orthonairovirus. Reports of human infections with TAMV have been increasing and development of a rapid detection assay is thus urgently required. In the present study, singleplex and dual-target real-time reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) assays were established for the detection of TAMV. Sensitivity and specificity were evaluated, which demonstrated high sensitivity for both the singleplex and dual-target qRT-PCR assays with no cross-reaction with common bunyaviruses and tick-borne viruses. The TaqMan-based qRT-PCR methodology established in this study can be employed for epidemiological surveillance and pathogenesis studies of TAMV.