2012

Saraswathy TS, AS Santhana Raj, O Khairul Azuan, R Aida Suhana, A Izan Shahrina and S Zainah (2012). Electron microscopy studies of human adenovirus isolated from an acute respiratory disease outbreak in a Police Training Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Annals of Microscopy 12: 20-26

An outbreak of acute respiratory disease occurred in a Police Training Centre in March 2011 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The outbreak resulted in the hospitalization of more than 100 police trainees; 5 of these trainees needed intensive care treatment, however, 3 succumbed to the infection. Samples from the hospitalised cases and post mortem samples from the fatal cases were analysed by polymerase chain reaction assay. Adenovirus was identifi ed in all these cases and sequencing analysis of the partial hexon gene revealed that human adenovirus type 7 belonging to the B2 species was the aetiological agent responsible for the outbreak. Positive Human embryonic cell (Hel) cultures showing cytopathological effects were also processed for thin section electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy observations showed non-enveloped virus particles with icosahedral capsids, about 80 nm in size, scattered in the infected cell. Virus assembly in the nucleus were seen as paracrystalline arrays which were typical of adenovirus replication. In our study, electron microscopy was a useful diagnostic tool which provided a visual confi rmation of the aetiological agent in the disease outbreak.