Langat virus (LGTV), one of the members of the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) complex, was firstly isolated from Ixodes granulatus ticks in Malaysia. However, the prevalence of LGTV in ticks in the region remains unknown. Surveillance for LGTV is therefore important and thus a tool for specific detection of LGTV is needed. In the present study, we developed a real-time quantitative reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for rapid detection of LGTV. Our findings showed that the developed qRT-PCR could detect LGTV at a titre as low as 0.1 FFU/ml. The detection limit of the qRT-PCR assay at 95% probability was 0.28 FFU/ml as determined by probit analysis (p ≤ 0.05). Besides, the designed primers and probe did not amplify ORF of the E genes for some closely related and more pathogenic viruses including TBEV, Louping ill virus, Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus (OHFV), Alkhurma virus (ALKV), Kyasanur Forest Disease virus (KFDV) and Powassan virus (POWV) which showed the acceptable specificity of the developed assay. The sensitivity of the developed method also has been confirmed by determining the LGTV in infected tick cell line as well as LGTV- spiked tick tissues.
Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) are important tick-borne viruses. Despite their wide geographical distribution and ease of acquisition, the prevalence of both viruses in Malaysia is still unknown. This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence for TBEV and CCHFV among Malaysian farm workers as a high-risk group within the population.