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Research Project: Rift Valley Fever Pathogenesis, Epidemiology, and Control Measures

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Title: Evaluation of Diagnostic Accuracy and Precision of a Competitive ELISA for Detection of Antibodies to Rift Valley Fever Virus in Cattle and Sheep Sera

Author
item UPRETI, DEEPA - Kansas State University
item CERNICCIARO, NATALIA - Kansas State University
item RICHT, JUERGEN - Kansas State University
item Wilson, William - Bill
item CLAVIJO, ALFONSO - Food Inspection Agency
item DAVIS, ANNE - Kansas State University

Submitted to: Journal of Virological Methods
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/9/2018
Publication Date: 9/8/2018
Citation: Upreti, D., Cernicciaro, N., Richt, J., Wilson, W.C., Clavijo, A., Davis, A. 2018. Evaluation of Diagnostic Accuracy and Precision of a Competitive ELISA for Detection of Antibodies to Rift Valley Fever Virus in Cattle and Sheep Sera. Journal of Virological Methods. vol 6-1 pages 7-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2018.09.002.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2018.09.002

Interpretive Summary: Reported here is the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of a prototype recombinant Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) nucleoprotein based competitive ELISA assay to detect Rift Valley fever virus antibodies to be used in the US in case of an introduction of this exotic pathogen of ruminants. It is compared to the gold standard, a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT80). Our testing included serum samples from cattle and sheep that were experimentally infected with either a candidate RVFV vaccine or a virulent RVFV strain as well as known RVFV negative sera. This is the first manuscript examining this new cELISA assay.

Technical Abstract: Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), a mosquito-borne, zoonotic pathogen, is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and has spread beyond the continent to the Arabian Peninsula. Thus, the high likelihood of RVFV’s spread to other non-endemic countries spurs the need for development and implementation of rapid diagnostic tests and surveillance programs. In this study, we assessed the diagnostic accuracy and precision of a recombinant RVFV nucleoprotein based competitive ELISA (cELISA) assay to detect RVFV antibodies compared to a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT80), using sera of cattle and sheep that were experimentally infected with either the MP-12 RVFV vaccine or wild-type RVFV strains as well as known RVFV negative sera. With the manufacturer recommended cut-off of 60% for the cELISA and a 1:40 titer for the PRNT80, the sensitivity and specificity of the cELISA assay was determined to be 95.1% (5%CI, 83.5-99.4%) and 91.8% (95% CI, 85.0-96.2%) respectively. Antibodies to RVFV were first detected at 5 days post inoculation (dpi) in both sheep and cattle samples. The prototype cELISA is an easy to implement, sensitive, specific, and safe test for the detection of antibodies to RVFV that can be used in surveillance programs for early disease diagnosis.