Identification, Characterization, and In Vitro Culture of Highly Divergent Arenaviruses from Boa Constrictors and Annulated Tree Boas: Candidate Etiological Agents for Snake Inclusion Body Disease

Stenglein, Mark D.; Sanders, Chris; Kistler, Amy L.; Ruby, J. Graham; Franco, Jessica Y.; Reavill, Drury R.; Dunker, Freeland; DeRisi, Joseph L.

The findings presented here raise the possibility of improved IBD diagnostics, prevention, and treatment. IBD is currently diagnosed by relatively insensitive blood analysis or invasive biopsy and histopathology. Viral RNA was as abundant in blood cells as in infected tissues (Fig. 2) , so RT-PCR using RNA purified from whole blood is the approach offering the best combination of specificity, sensitivity, and ease of sample collection, though proper controls and procedures will have to be used to minimize the possibility of PCR false positives due to contamination. Primers targeting the region of the genomes conserved among the three viruses described here are listed in Table S1 in the supplemental material. Antibodies against viral proteins offer an additional diagnostic approach, but antibodies against conserved viral epitopes would have to be generated and validated.