The First Isolation and Whole Genome Sequencing of Murray Valley Encephalitis Virus from Cerebrospinal Fluid of a Patient with Encephalitis
Jessica S. Russell,
Leon Caly,
Renata Kostecki,
Sarah L. McGuinness,
Glen Carter,
Dieter Bulach,
Torsten Seemann,
Tim P. Stinear,
Rob Baird,
Mike Catton,
Julian Druce
Affiliations
Jessica S. Russell
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Leon Caly
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Renata Kostecki
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Sarah L. McGuinness
Department of Infectious Diseases, Royal Darwin Hospital, 105 Rocklands Drive, Tiwi, Darwin, NT 0810, Australia
Glen Carter
Doherty Applied Microbial Genomics, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Dieter Bulach
Doherty Applied Microbial Genomics, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Torsten Seemann
Doherty Applied Microbial Genomics, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Tim P. Stinear
Doherty Applied Microbial Genomics, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Rob Baird
Territory Pathology, Royal Darwin Hospital, 105 Rocklands Drive, Tiwi, Darwin, NT 0810, Australia
Mike Catton
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Julian Druce
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, 792 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Murray Valley Encephalitis virus (MVEV) is a mosquito-borne Flavivirus. Clinical presentation is rare but severe, with a case fatality rate of 15–30%. Here we report a case of MVEV from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a patient in the Northern Territory in Australia. Initial diagnosis was performed using both MVEV-specific real-time, and Pan-Flavivirus conventional, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), with confirmation by Sanger sequencing. Subsequent isolation, the first from CSF, was conducted in Vero cells and the observed cytopathic effect was confirmed by increasing viral titre in the real-time PCR. Isolation allowed for full genome sequencing using the Scriptseq V2 RNASeq library preparation kit. A consensus genome for VIDRL-MVE was generated and phylogenetic analysis identified it as Genotype 2. This is the first reported isolation, and full genome sequencing of MVEV from CSF. It is also the first time Genotype 2 has been identified in humans. As such, this case has significant implications for public health surveillance, epidemiology, and the understanding of MVEV evolution.
