Protocol of Detection of West Nile Virus in Clinical Samples

Methods Mol Biol. 2023:2585:119-125. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2760-0_12.

Abstract

West Nile virus (WNV) is one of the leading causes of arboviral encephalitis in the United States but is often underdiagnosed. Despite the wide breadth of WNV-induced clinical disease syndromes, many of the symptoms associated with WNV are nonspecific at the time of presentation; thus, choosing the right diagnostic tool is essential to not only understand the true burden of disease but also provide pathogen-directed interventions for WNV-infected patients. In this chapter, we briefly discuss the three most common types of diagnostic methods for WNV in human clinical samples: nucleic acid detection, enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), and plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) and present the method for PRNT.

Keywords: Diagnostics; Flavivirus; PRNT; West Nile virus.

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / methods
  • Humans
  • West Nile Fever* / diagnosis
  • West Nile virus*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral