Project Number: 5430-32000-005-09
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jan 01, 2010
End Date: Dec 31, 2014

Objective:
The objective will be to develop, expedite the evaluation and standardization of Rift Valley fever (RVF) diagnostic assays and vaccine control strategies.

Approach:
This project will utilize the vector-borne disease expertise of the ARS, Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit (ABADRU) and the Rift Valley fever (RVF) diagnostic expertise of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) to develop, evaluate, and standardize diagnostic assays and vaccines for RVF. The approach will be to develop a young ruminant animal challenge model to evaluate existing and newly developed vaccines and diagnostics for RVF. The collaborative project will include the evaluation of existing and newly developed diagnostic tests such as various viral genome amplification assays (real-time RT-PCR, RT-LAMP, and LATE-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) based on recombinant antigens (RVF-N, -G2, and –NSs). This will be achieved by direct comparison of available assays in both field-deployable and diagnostic laboratory based formats. The goal is to provide recommendations for standardized diagnostics that can be universally applied by international disease outbreak response teams. The collaborative project will also evaluation of the host immune response to new vaccines and virus challenge.