Detection of emergent strains of West Nile virus with a blood screening assay.

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) is a threat to transfusion safety. WNV Kunjin strain (WNVKUN ) is endemic across parts of Australia; however, human infection is believed to be infrequent and is often associated with relatively minor symptoms. A virulent strain, closely related to WNVKUN (termed WNVNSW2011 ) was recently identified as the etiologic agent of encephalitis in Australian horses.

Seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) and detection of HEV RNA with a transcription-mediated amplification assay in blood donors from Catalonia (Spain).

Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging threat to the safety of blood transfusion. The aim of this study was to determine HEV immunoglobulin (Ig)G and RNA prevalence in Catalan blood donors.

Study Design And Methods: Nearly 10,000 samples were collected from anonymized, unpaid donors at the Banc de Sang i Teixits (Barcelona, Spain) from June to December 2013.

Performance evaluation of the PROCLEIX West Nile virus assay on semi-automated and automated systems.

The PROCLEIX West Nile virus assay (WNV assay) is a qualitative nucleic acid test based on transcription-mediated amplification (TMA). The assay was used under an investigational protocol in the United States to screen blood donations for West Nile virus (WNV) RNA starting in the summer of 2003, and was licensed by the FDA in December 2005 for use on the PROCLEIX System, also known as the enhanced semi-automated system (eSAS). Performance characteristics for the assay were determined on both eSAS and the fully automated PROCLEIX TIGRIS (TIGRIS) System.