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Investigation of frequency of active Borna disease virus infection in Scottish blood donors
Author(s) -
Davidson F.,
Lycett C.,
Petrik J.,
Fazakerley J. K.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
vox sanguinis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.68
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1423-0410
pISSN - 0042-9007
DOI - 10.1111/j.0042-9007.2004.00395.x
Subject(s) - virology , virus , population , reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction , biology , polymerase chain reaction , reverse transcriptase , disease , human blood , immunology , blood transfusion , medicine , gene , genetics , environmental health , physiology , messenger rna
Background and Objectives Borna disease virus (BDV) can infect a wide range of vertebrate species causing neurological disease. In order to ensure the safety of blood supplies, it is essential to monitor blood for emerging pathogens. Materials and Methods One‐hundred individual white cell pellets and pools representing 25 000 plasma donations from human blood were screened for BDV by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR). Results BDV RNA was not detected in any of the samples. Conclusions The results indicate that BDV is not widely spread in the UK human population and does not represent a risk as a transfusion‐transmitted agent.