Abstract:
Recently Shuni virus (SHUV) has been identified in clinical cases of neurological disease in horses in South
Africa. Being that it was one of the less recognized orthobunyaviruses, with limited clinical descriptions
of disease dating back to the 1960s and 1970s, SHUV-specific assays were never developed. In this study,
the development of a nested real-time PCR assay is described for the detection of SHUV by means of
melt-curve analysis using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) probe technology. The assay
was validated against previously positive clinical specimens and a dilution series of controls. This assay
was applied in the screening of 386 clinical specimens of horses with neurological signs. SHUV could be
amplified from cell culture, blood and tissue specimens from horses with acute disease. This is a rapid
and sensitive assay that may be implemented in both diagnostic and research laboratories.
