[Biological microchip for identification of orthopoxviruses and agents causing the same clinical picture as in smallpox]

A method based on hybridization of simultaneously amplified gene fragments of orthopoxviruses and herpesviruses with oligonucleotide probes immobilized on a microarray has been developed. The method permits identification of 6 orthopoxvirus species and three types of herpesviruses, including Varicella zoster, within 6 hours.