Knowledge of genetic sequence of virus will enable improvements in

screening to enhance transplantation safety

    NEW YORK, April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists in the Greene Infectious
 Disease Laboratory of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public
 Health and colleagues in the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference
 Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia and 454 Life Sciences have discovered a
 new virus that was responsible for the deaths of three transplant
 recipients who received organs from a single donor in Victoria, Australia.
     The previously unknown virus, which is related to lymphocytic
 choreomeningitis virus (LCMV), was found using rapid sequencing technology
 established by 454 Life Sciences and bioinformatics algorithms developed in
 the Greene Laboratory with support from the National Institute of Allergy
 and Infectious Diseases. Known strains of LCMV have been implicated in a
 small number of cases of disease transmission by organ transplantation,
 however, the newly discovered virus is sufficiently different that it could
 not be detected using existing screening methods.
     Over 30,000 organ transplants are performed in the U.S. each year.
 Knowledge of the genetic sequence of this virus will enable improvements in
 screening that will enhance the safety of transplantation.
     Ian Lipkin, MD, director of the Greene Laboratory and Principal
 Investigator of the Northeast Biodefense Center, emphasized the importance
 of academic, public health, and industrial partnership in this work. "This
 was a team effort. Drs. Mike Catton and Julian Druce at the Victorian
 Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory reached out to us after a
 comprehensive state-of- the-art investigation failed to turn up leads,"
 stated Dr. Lipkin. "We succeeded in identifying the virus responsible for
 the deaths by building on their work and utilizing new tools for pathogen
 surveillance and discovery developed in the Greene Laboratory and 454 Life
 Sciences."
     About the Mailman School of Public Health
     The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among
 the first in the nation, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public
 Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 950
 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees. Its students
 and more than 300 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service
 in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics,
 environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management,
 population and family health, and sociomedical sciences.
 www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu
     About the Jerome L. and Dawn Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory
     The Jerome L. and Dawn Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory is located
 at the Mailman School of Public Health. In addition to establishing methods
 for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of acute outbreaks of infectious
 disease, Laboratory scientists investigate links between infection and a
 wide range of chronic diseases including autism, attention deficit
 hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorders, depression,
 schizophrenia, diabetes mellitus, and cancer that have their origins in
 early or even prenatal life.
 
 

SOURCE Mailman School of Public Health