<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Rabies urgently requires strengthening of new and existing diagnostic methodology in order to overcome the threat it poses. We evaluated the Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA) and the Rapid Immunodiagnostic Test (RIDT) in detecting rabies viral antigens, comparing both tests with the Direct Fluorescent Antibody Test (DFAT) which is the gold standard in rabies diagnosis. Fifty dog brain tissues collected from the archives of the Central Diagnostic Laboratory, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Nigeria, were utilized for this study. ELISA performed better than RIDT and recorded equivalent result with DFAT as compared with RIDT. There was a 96 % agreement between ELISA and DFAT for rabies antigen detection (concordance coefficient 78 % : 95 % C. I. 0.6366 to 0.8654) while there was a 54 % agreement between RIDT and DFAT (concordance coefficient 17 % : 95 % C. I. 0.05138—0.2752). Compared to DFAT, the sensitivities of ELISA and RIDT were 95.5 % and 47.6 %, respectively, and the specificities of ELISA and RIDT were 100 % and 87.5 % respectively. The simple Cohen’s kappa coefficient for ELISA related to the DFAT was found to be 0.834 (95 % C. I. 0.613—1.0). For RIDT, the Kappa value was 0.170 (95 % C. I. 0.003—0.337). The ELISA is as reliable a diagnostic method as the DFAT which is the gold standard for rabies diagnosis. It has an advantage of being able to analyse large number of samples at the same time, making it more suitable for epidemiological studies and for laboratories that cannot perform the DFAT. The unsatisfactory result of RIDT in this study reiterates the need to perform an adequate test validation before it can be used in the laboratory for rabies diagnosis.</p></abstract>

Rabies urgently requires strengthening of new and existing diagnostic methodology in order to overcome the threat it poses. We evaluated the Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA) and the Rapid Immunodiagnostic Test (RIDT) in detecting rabies viral antigens, comparing both tests with the Direct Fluorescent Antibody Test (DFAT) which is the gold standard in rabies diagnosis. Fifty dog brain tissues collected from the archives of the Central Diagnostic Laboratory, National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Nigeria, were utilized for this study. ELISA performed better than RIDT and recorded equivalent result with DFAT as compared with RIDT. There was a 96 % agreement between ELISA and DFAT for rabies antigen detection (concordance coefficient 78 % : 95 % C. I. 0.6366 to 0.8654) while there was a 54 % agreement between RIDT and DFAT (concordance coefficient 17 % : 95 % C. I. 0.05138—0.2752). Compared to DFAT, the sensitivities of ELISA and RIDT were 95.5 % and 47.6 %, respectively, and the specificities of ELISA and RIDT were 100 % and 87.5 % respectively. The simple Cohen’s kappa coefficient for ELISA related to the DFAT was found to be 0.834 (95 % C. I. 0.613—1.0). For RIDT, the Kappa value was 0.170 (95 % C. I. 0.003—0.337). The ELISA is as reliable a diagnostic method as the DFAT which is the gold standard for rabies diagnosis. It has an advantage of being able to analyse large number of samples at the same time, making it more suitable for epidemiological studies and for laboratories that cannot perform the DFAT. The unsatisfactory result of RIDT in this study reiterates the need to perform an adequate test validation before it can be used in the laboratory for rabies diagnosis.

Evaluation of Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay and Rapid Immuno-Diagnostic Test for Rabies Antigen Detection in Archived Dog Brain Tissues

Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine

Folia Veterinaria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Rabies urgently requires strengthening of new and existing diagnostic methodology in order to overcome the threat it poses. We evaluated the Enzyme Linked...

Evaluation of Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay and Rapid Immuno-Diagnostic Test for Rabies Antigen Detection in Archived Dog Brain Tissues

Published Online: Apr 11, 2018

Page range: 18 - 24

Received: Sep 18, 2017

Accepted: Dec 06, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2018-0003

Keywords
Direct Fluorescent Antibody Test, Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay, rabies, Rapid Immunodiagnostic Test, sensitivity, specificity

© 2018 Okoh, G. R. et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Evaluation of Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay and Rapid Immuno-Diagnostic Test for Rabies Antigen Detection in Archived Dog Brain Tissues

Published Online: Apr 11, 2018

Page range: 18 - 24

Received: Sep 18, 2017

Accepted: Dec 06, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fv-2018-0003

KeywordsDirect Fluorescent Antibody Test, Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay, rabies, Rapid Immunodiagnostic Test, sensitivity, specificity

© 2018 Okoh, G. R. et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Direct Fluorescent Antibody Test, Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay, rabies, Rapid Immunodiagnostic Test, sensitivity, specificity