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This CDC invention relates to primers and probes that specifically hybridize with Heartland virus (HRTLDV), a unique member of the genus Phlebovirus. It further relates to polyclonal antibodies specific for HRTLDV proteins. Serological detection assays using HRTLDV nucleic acid molecules, proteins, probes, primers, and antibodies are provided. Importantly, the HRTLDV genome can be engineered using reverse genetics to be attenuated, allowing development of a vaccine for other viruses within the Phlebovirus genus or Bunyaviridae family.

A method of detecting DNase I hypersensitive sites ((DHS) in a single cell or very small number of cells, including cells recovered from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue slides of patient samples. DHS has revealed a large number of potential regulatory elements for transcriptional regulation in various cell types. The application of DNase-Seq techniques to patient samples can elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms of gene function in a variety of diseases as well as provide potentially important diagnostic and prognostic information.

Micro-Screen is a CDC developed software program designed to capture images and archive and display a compiled image(s) from a portion of a microscope slide in real time. This program allows for the re-creation of larger images that are constructed from individual microscopic fields captured in up to five focal planes and two magnifications. This program may be especially useful for the creation of data archives for diagnostic and teaching purposes and for tracking histological changes during disease progression.

Within recent years, point-of-care (POC) testing has allowed for many individuals to be screened for and provided with HIV test results. It is critical to be able to accurately detect acute HIV infections as this is a stage where the risk of transmission is great. Additionally, early HIV detection could lead to less high-risk behavior, thereby reducing transmission. Currently, there are no rapid, cost-effective diagnostic tests sensitive enough to detect acute HIV-1 infections for the POC setting.

CDC researchers have isolated and characterized the novel primate T-lymphotropic viruses denoted human T-lymphotropic viruses 3 and 4 (HTLV-3 and HTLV4), that are believed to have resulted from cross-species transmission at some point in the past. It has been previously established that HTLV-1 causes adult T cell leukemia and other inflammatory diseases; HTLV-2 is considered less pathogenic than HTLV-1 and has been associated with a neurologic disease similar to HTLV-1-associated myelopathy.

This CDC-developed technology relates to novel vaccines or boosters directed against pulmonary tuberculosis. There is currently only a single vaccine against tuberculosis, the (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) BCG vaccine. Reports suggest widely variable effectiveness for the BCG vaccine and that BCG administration has very limited success against prevention of the primary pulmonary form of the disease.

CDC researchers have developed an in vitro model system designed to simulate early-stage Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and induced granuloma formation. This modeling platform can be used for studying tuberculosis pathogenicity, identifying phenotypically-interesting clinical isolates, studying early-stage host cytokine/chemokine responses, and in vitro candidate-drug screening.

The core proteins of HIV-1 are secreted into the environment during replication in the human body. The detection of the core protein p24 (molecular mass of 24 kilodaltons) serves as an indicator of early HIV-1 infection, and assays detecting it have been available since the late 1980s. However, the development of a rapid assay for the detection of HIV-1 p24 has only recently become available.

Syphilis, a genital ulcerative disease caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum, is associated with significant complications if left untreated. Syphilis rates in the United States have been increasing.

This CDC invention is a method for identifying and quantifying a group of proteins in a complex mixture by a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay. The technology was developed for influenza although it can be used for a wide variety of protein quantification applications. As specifically developed, conserved peptides from the proteins of influenza (hemagglutinin, neuramidase, matrix 1 and 2, and nucleoprotein) have been synthesized and labeled to be used as internal standards for the quantification of those proteins in a complex (biological or manufactured) matrix.