Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is a viral disease that is a member of the genus Alphavirus in the family Togaviridae. While it is rare in humans, averaging only six cases in the U.S. each year, EEE is one of the most severe mosquito-transmitted diseases in the country.

 

EEE operates in a cycle between Culiseta melanura mosquitoes and avian hosts in freshwater hardwood swamps. It can only be transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that have the ability to create a bridge between infected birds and uninfected mammals. Capable mosquitoes include Aedes, Coquillettidia and Culex. It is most harmful to people under 15 and older than 50. Most cases are reported in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

 

Symptoms of EEE include fever, headache, irritability, restlessness, drowsiness, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, cyanosis, convulsions and coma. Systemic infection has an abrupt onset and is characterized by chills, fever, malaise, arthralgia and myalgia. The illness lasts one to two weeks and recovery is complete when there is no central nervous system involvement. One in three people infected with EEE die, usually within two to 10 days after symptoms surface.

 

There are currently no vaccines to protect against EEE and patients who suspect the virus should be evaluated by a medical provider. Any detected EEE cases should be reported to local authorities to assist in outbreak recognition.

 

The following online resource was utilized for this section of Going Viral:  

http://www.cdc.gov/easternequineencephalitis/  

Journal validates the effectiveness of the virus counter

 

You may already be aware of the many benefits of InDevR's ViroCyt® Virus Counter®. Its cost-effective, easy-to-use detection of virus particle concentration takes a fraction of the time required by conventional plaque titer assays. Now a prominent journal has taken notice, too.

  

BioProcess International, a monthly magazine focused on the development, scale-up and manufacture of biotherapeutics and biodiagnostics, featured a journal article about the effectiveness of the Virus Counter in its September issue. Kathy Rowlen, Ph.D., chief executive officer of InDevR, and Erica Dawson, Ph.D., director of product development for InDevR, both contributed to the article in which the Virus Counter system is compared with quantitative PCR in detection of the H1N1 virus.

 

Read the article, "Comparing H1N1 Virus Quantification with a Unique Flow Cytometer and Quantitative PCR" by Patricia C. Stepp, Kirk A. Ranno, Erica D. Dawson, Kathy L. Rowlen and Matthew M. Ferris, here.

 

ampliPHOX technology launch

 

InDevR is excited to announce the availability of a new colorimetric detection technology for low-density microarrays. ampliPHOX®, an inexpensive alternative to fluorescence detection, provides visual colorimetric readout for low-density microarrays in minutes. Using a miniature reader that weighs less than three pounds and a netbook controller, ampliPHOX has high impact for glass substrate microarrays based on DNA, proteins, antibodies, miRNA, peptides and aptamers. 

With an investment about 10 times lower than that required for a typical microarray scanner, ampliPHOX provides similar sensitivity to fluorescence with a simple colorimetric readout. The ampliPHOX process takes just a few minutes to complete. After a light-initiated chemical reaction forms solid polymer spots on the microarray, biotinylated targets are captured and a proprietary solution is added. When the ampliPHOX reader's light illuminates the array, polymer grows selectively on locations where the biotinylated targets were ca ptured. The process can be seen with the naked eye and imaged by the ampliPHOX reader.

 

No capital equipment is required to begin using the ampliPHOX technology. Each ampliPHOX starter kit contains everything necessary to generate results quickly and reordering supplies from InDevR is simple through online shopping.

 

Visit www.indevr.com to learn more about how ampliPHOX might function in your lab.