Use of TaqMan Array Cards to Screen Outbreak Specimens for Causes of Febrile Illness in Tanzania

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2018 Jun;98(6):1640-1642. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.18-0071. Epub 2018 Mar 29.

Abstract

We describe the deployment of a custom-designed molecular diagnostic TaqMan Array Card (TAC) to screen for 31 bacterial, protozoal, and viral etiologies in blood from outbreaks of acute febrile illness in Tanzania during 2015-2017. On outbreaks notified to the Tanzanian Ministry of Health, epidemiologists were dispatched and specimens were collected, transported to a central national laboratory, and tested by TAC within 2 days. This algorithm streamlined investigation, diagnosed a typhoid outbreak, and excluded dozens of other etiologies. This method is usable in-country and may be incorporated into algorithms for diagnosing outbreaks.

MeSH terms

  • Case-Control Studies
  • Child
  • Communicable Diseases / classification
  • Communicable Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Communicable Diseases / epidemiology
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Diagnostic Screening Programs / trends*
  • Disease Outbreaks* / classification
  • Disease Outbreaks* / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Fever / diagnosis*
  • Fever / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Prevalence
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / instrumentation
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
  • Risk Factors
  • Tanzania / epidemiology