Viral Zoonoses

Dr. Michael A. Drebot, PhD, ARMCCM

Director, Science Technology and Core Services
Chief, Viral Zoonoses, Zoonotic Diseases and Special Pathogens
Professor Adjunct, Department of Microbiology, University of Manitoba

Degrees:  BSc (Hons) 1980, Dalhousie University; MSc. 1983, Dalhousie University; PhD 1988, Dalhousie University

Telephone: 204- 789-6059          
Lab: 204- 789- 6071
Fax: 204- 789-2082
Email:  Mike.Drebot@ phac-aspc.gc.ca

Reference Services / Diagnostics

Arbovirus serology:

Hemagglutination Inhibition Testing: Western Equine Encephalitis Virus, Eastern Equine, Encephalitis Virus, Chikungunya Virus, and other Alphaviruses.

West Nile Virus, St. Louis Encephalitis Virus, Dengue Virus, Yellow Fever Virus, Powassan Virus

IgM and IgG ELISA: West Nile Virus, St. Louis Encephalitis Virus, Dengue Virus, Yellow Fever Virus, Powassan Virus

California Serogroup Viruses: Snowshoe Hare Virus, Jamestown Canyon Virus, LaCrosse Virus

IgM Avidity Testing: West Nile Virus

Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test (PRNT): Available for majority of arboviruses listed above.

PCR-Based Assays: Available upon request.

Research Interests:

Application / development of molecular and serological diagnostic assays for zoonotic pathogens such as hantaviruses and arboviruses (West Nile virus microsphere immunassays, Sin Nombre virus microarrays)  Phylogenetic characterization of rodent and/or mosquito-borne bunyaviruses and flaviviruses and their vectors.  Application of VSV pseudotype expression systems to study the role of viral proteins in replication and immune response.  In vitro and in vivo screening of antiviral candidates against zoonotic viruses and the investigation of mechanisms by which these compounds decrease viral replication.  

Selected Publications:

1.  Drebot MA, Artsob H, Werker D. (2000)  Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome in Canada, 1989-1999.  CCDR 26:65-69

2.  Booth S, Drebot MA, Tipples G, Ng LK. (2000)  Application of DNA array technology for diagnostic microbiology.  Can J Infect Dis  11:291-294.

3.  Drebot MA, Gavrilovskaya I, Mackow ER, Chen Z, Lindsay R, Johnson A,  Nichol ST, Artsob H. (2001)  Genetic and serotypic characterization of Sin Nombre-like  viruses in Canadian Peromyscus maniculatus mice.  Virus Research 75:75-86.

4.  Weingartl HM, Drebot MA, Hubalek Z, Halouzka J, Andonova M, Dibernardo A, Cottam-Birt C, Larence J, Marszal P.  (2003)  Comparison of assays for detection of West Nile virus antibodies in chicken sera.  Can J Vet Res 67:128-132.

5.  Booth S, Drebot MA, Martin IE, Ng LK. (2003)  Design of oligonucleotide arrays to detect point mutations: Molecular typing of antibiotic resistant strains of Neisseria gonnorrhoeae and hantavirus infected deer mice.   Mol Cell Probes 17: 77-84.

6.  Drebot MA, Lindsay R, Barker IK, Buck PA, Fearon M, Hunter F, Sockett P, Artsob H.  (2003).  West Nile virus surveillance and diagnostics: A Canadian perspective.  Can J Infect Dis 14:105-114.

7.  Pepperell C, Rau N, Krajden S, Kern R, Humar A, Mederski B, Simor A, Low DE, McGeer A, Mazzulli, Burton J, Jaigobin C, Fearon M, Artsob H, Drebot MA, Halliday W, Brunton J.  (2003).  West Nile virus infection in 2002: Morbidity and mortality among patients admitted to hospital in southcentral Ontario.  CMAJ 168:1399-1405.

8.  Lindsay R, Barker I, Nayar G, Drebot MA, Calvin S, Scammell C, Sachvie C, Scammell-La Fleur T, Dibernardo A, Andonova M, Artsob H.  (2003).  Rapid antigen capture assay to detect West Nile virus in dead corvids.  Emerg Infect Dis.  9:1406-1410.

9.  Marra MA, Jones SJ, Astell CR, Holt RA, Brooks-Wilson A, Butterfield YS, Khattra J, Asano JK, Barber SA, Chan SY, Cloutier A, Coughlin SM, Freeman D, Girn N, Griffith OL, Leach SR, Mayo M, McDonald H, Montgomery SB, Pandoh PK, Petrescu AS, Robertson AG, Schein JE, Siddiqui A, Smailus DE, Stott JM, Yang GS, Plummer F, Andonov A, Artsob H, Bastien N, Bernard K, Booth TF, Bowness D, Czub M, Drebot M, Fernando L, Flick R, Garbutt M, Gray M, Grolla A, Jones S, Feldmann H, Meyers A, Kabani A, Li Y, Normand S, Stroher U, Tipples GA, Tyler S, Vogrig R, Ward D, Watson B, Brunham RC, Krajden M, Petric M, Skowronski DM, Upton C, Roper RL. (2003).  The Genome sequence of the SARS-associated coronavirus. Science. 300(5624):1399-404.

10.  Wong SJ, Boyle RH, Demarest VL, Woodmansee AN, Kramer LD, Li H, Drebot M, Koski RA, Fikrig E, Martin DA, Shi PY.  (2003)  Immunoassay targeting nonstructural protein 5 to differentiate West Nile virus infection from dengue and St. Louis encephalitis virus infections and from flavivirus vaccination.  J Clin Microbiol. 41:4217-4223

11.  Weingartl HM, Copps J, Drebot MA, Marszal P, Smith G, Gren J, Andonova M, Pasick J, Kitching P, Czub M. (2004).  Susceptibility of pigs and chickens to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus.  Emerg Infect Dis 10(2):179-84..

12.  Austin RJ, Whiting TL, Anderson RA, Drebot MA. (2004).  An outbreak of West Nile virus-associated disease in domestic geese (Anser anser domesticus) upon initial introduction to a geographic region, with evidence of bird to bird transmission. Can Vet J. 45(2):117-23.

13.  Olberg RA, Barker IK, Crawshaw GJ, Bertelsen MF, Drebot MA, Andonova M. (2004) West Nile virus encephalitis in a Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus).  Emerg Infect Dis. 10(4):712-4.

14.  Berry JD, Jones S, Drebot MA et al.  (2004) Development and characterisation of neutralising monoclonal antibody to the SARS-coronavirus. J Virol Methods. 120(1):87-96.

15.  He R, Andonov A, Traykova-Andonova M, Cao J, Cutts T, Grudesky E, Deschambaul, Y, Berry J, Drebot M, Li X. (2004)  Potent and selective inhibition of SARS coronavirus replication by aurintricarboxylic acid.  Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 6;320(4):1199-203.

16.  DeMiranda JR, Drebot M, Tyler S, Shen M, Cameron CE.  (2004).  Complete nucleotide sequence of Kashmir bee virus and comparison with acute bee paralysis virus.  J Gen Virol. 85(Pt 8):2263-70.

17.  Bertelsen MF, Olberg RA, Crawshaw GJ, Dibernardo A, Lindsay LR, Drebot M, Barker IK. (2004). West Nile virus infections in the eastern loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus migrans): pathology, epidemiology, and immunization.  J Wildl Dis 40: 538-42.

18.  Kumar D, Drebot MA, Wong SJ, Lim G, Artsob H, Buck P, Humar A. (2004) A seroprevalence study of West Nile virus infection in solid organ transplant recipients.  Am J Transplant 4: 1883-8.

19.  Nicolle LE, Gutkin A, Smart G, Dawood M, Drebot M, Van Caeseele P, Giulivi A, Minuk GY. (2004).  Serological studies of West Nile virus in a liver transplant population.  Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol 15: 271-274.

20.  Stephen C, Artsob H, Bowie WR, Drebot M, Fraser E, Leighton T, Morshed M, Ong C, Patrick D. (2004).  Perspectives on emerging zoonotic disease research and capacity building in Canada.  Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol 15: 339-344 and Can Vet J 2005; 46: 65-71.

21.  Gubbins MJ, Plummer FA, Yuan XY, Johnstone D, Drebot M, Andonova M, Andonov, A., Berry JD. (2005).  Molecular characterization of a panel of murine monoclonal antibodies specific for the SARS-coronavirus.  Mol Immunol 42: 125-36.

22.  Saldanha J, Shead S, Heath A, Drebot M (2005).  Collaborative Study to Evaluate a Working Reagent for West Nile Virus (WNV) RNA Detection by NAT. Transfusion 45: 97-102.

23.  Busch MP, Tobler LH, Saldanha J, Caglioti S, Venkatakrishna S, Linnen J, Gallarda Phelps B, Smith R, Drebot M, Kleinman SH. (2005).  Analytical and clinical sensitivity of first generation West Nile virus screening and confirmation assays.  Transfusion 45: 492-499.

24.  Vinayagamoorthy T, Mulatz K, Drebot M, Hodkinson R.  (2005).  Molecular typing of West Nile virus, dengue, and St. Louis encephalitis virus using multiplex sequencing.  J Mol Diagnostics 7: 152-159.

25.  Safronetz D, Lindsay R, Dibernardo A, Hjelle B, Xiao R, Artsob H, Drebot M. (2005) A preliminary study of the patterns of Sin Nombre viral infection and shedding in naturally infected deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
 5: 127-132.

26.  Chui L, Drebot M, Andonov A, Petrich A, Glushek M, Mahony J. (2005).  Comparison of nine different primers for the rapid detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) using two extraction methods. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis July (E pub).

27.  Klapsing P, MacLean JD, Glaze S, McClean KL, Drebot MA, Lanciotti RS, Campbell GL (2005)  Ross River virus disease reemergence, Fiji, 2003-2004. Emerg Infect Dis 11: 613-615.

28.  Drebot MA, Artsob H. (2005).  West Nile virus.  Can Fam Physician 51:1094 – 1099.

Laboratory Members:

Kai Makowski
Technologist
Kai_Makowski@phac-aspc.gc.ca

Kimberly Holloway
Technologist
Kimberly_Holloway@phac-aspc.gc.ca

Maya Andonova
Technologist
Maya_Andonova@phac-aspc.gc.ca