Concentration of Rift Valley fever and Chikungunya viruses by precipitation

Simple and efficient methods for concentrating Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus and chikungunya (CHIK) virus are described. Ammonium sulfate, potassium sulfate, or alcohol was used as a precipitating agent and the precipitate was resuspended to volumes suitable for further processing and purification. The methods permitted concentration of live RVF virus and CHIK virus about 100-fold with negligible losses of virus. RVF virus retained a high level of infectivity with potassium aluminum sulfate and alcohol, but CHIK virus retained a higher infectivity level with ammonium sulfate than with potassium aluminum sulfate. The data indicate that serum plays an important role in the concentration of both viruses, at least when the sulfate methods are used.