Key result
PCR-based sequencing of poliovirus type 3 isolates from a southern Alberta community showed >99% genetic similarity to the outbreak strain from The Netherlands, confirming importation.
Why the study?
Can PCR-based diagnostics detect and trace the importation of wild poliovirus type 3 into an unvaccinated community?
Observational
Can PCR-based diagnostics detect and trace the importation of wild poliovirus type 3 into an unvaccinated community?
PCR-based diagnostics successfully identified the importation of wild poliovirus type 3 from The Netherlands to an unvaccinated community in Canada.
PCR sequencing aids tracing of imported wild poliovirus; supports targeted surveillance in unvaccinated communities while leaving routine use open.
During the fall and winter of 1992-1993 an outbreak of wild poliovirus type 3-associated poliomyelitis involving 71 patients occurred in The Netherlands. Almost all of the individuals involved in the outbreak belonged to an orthodox religious denomination that prohibits vaccination. A surveillance was initiated to determine if there had been an importation of this same strain of wild poliovirus into a southern Alberta community with a similar religious affiliation. Viral culture of stool samples from consenting individuals in the community resulted in viral isolates which typed as poliovirus type 3. Sequencing of amplicons generated from both the 5' nontranslated region and the VP1/2A portion of the genomes from representative poliovirus isolates indicated a greater than 99% genetic similarity to the strain from The Netherlands. The results of this study show that the utilization of PCR-based diagnostics offers an important molecular tool for the concise and rapid surveillance of possible cases of wild poliovirus importation into communities with individuals at risk for infection.
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Drebot et al. (1997) conducted an observational in Wild poliovirus type 3 infection. Surveillance and PCR-based diagnostics was evaluated on Detection and genetic similarity of poliovirus type 3 isolates. PCR-based sequencing of poliovirus type 3 isolates from a southern Alberta community showed >99% genetic similarity to the outbreak strain from The Netherlands, confirming importation.
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