Program Director/Principal Investigator (Last, First, Middle): Bausch, Daniel G. 1 U01 AI082053-01 ABSTRACT The viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) pose a threat as possible bioterrorist agents as well as to populations in sub-Saharan Africa where many VHFs are endemic. The non-specific clinical presentation of the VHF, makes them extremely difficult to diagnose clinically and no commercial diagnostic kits exist. The primary objective of this project is to establish rapid and sensitive multiplex molecular assays for the VHFs, as well as other diseases included in their differential diagnosis. Features that will enhance the probabilitv of success of this proposal include the availability of archived clinical specimens from West Africa where numerous VHFs are endemic, the expertise of the investigators in clinical medicine, microbiology, bioinformatics, and molecular diagnostics, a novel technology for mass spectrometric detection of PCR amplification products, and banks of primer sequences cDNA targets and mass tags. The research design has been modified to focus primarily on Specfic Aim 1 of the original proposal, which also natural incorporates some elements of the United States-based capacity building called for in Specific Aim 3. Studies or capacity building to be conducted at/or involving foreign sites (Kenema, Sierra Leone), which would have entailed spending overseas, have been deleted to comply with ARRA funding requirements.
The specific aim of the revised proposal is to develop a multiplex MassTag PCR assay for African VHFs, as well as for an array of additional pathogens included in their differential diagnosis.
