Phylogeographic analysis of rabies viruses in the Philippines.

Rabies still remains a public health threat in the Philippines. A significant number of human rabies cases, about 200-300 cases annually, have been reported, and the country needs an effective strategy for rabies control. To develop an effective control strategy, it is important to understand the transmission patterns of the rabies viruses.

Genetic diversity and geographic distribution of genetically distinct rabies viruses in the Philippines.

Background: Rabies continues to be a major public health problem in the Philippines, where 200-300 human cases were reported annually between 2001 and 2011. Understanding the phylogeography of rabies viruses is important for establishing a more effective and feasible control strategy.

Methods: We performed a molecular analysis of rabies viruses in the Philippines using rabied animal brain samples.

Rapid detection of rabies virus by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification.

In this study, reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) was established which can detect 10(3) copies of viral RNA corresponding to approximately 5 fg of RNA. RT-LAMP with the Phil primer set designed according to the nucleotide sequences obtained from a Kyoto patient who contracted rabies in the Philippines was able to amplify all 16 street viral sequences derived from the Philippines. The specificity of RT-LAMP products was easily confirmed by digestion with RsaI restriction enzyme.