Recombinant protein-based viral disease diagnostics in veterinary medicine

Identification of pathogens or antibody response to pathogens in human and animals modulates the treatment strategies for naive population and subsequent infections. Diseases can be controlled and even eradicated based on the epidemiology and effective prophylaxis, which often depends on development of efficient diagnostics. In addition, combating newly emerging diseases in human as well as animal healthcare is challenging and is dependent on developing safe and efficient diagnostics. Detection of antibodies directed against specific antigens has been the method of choice for documenting prior infection. Other than zoonosis, development of inexpensive vaccines and diagnostics is a unique problem in animal healthcare. The advent of recombinant DNA technology and its application in the biotechnology industry has revolutionized animal healthcare. The use of recombinant DNA technology in animal disease diagnosis has improved the rapidity, specificity and sensitivity of various diagnostic assays. This is because of the absence of host cellular proteins in the recombinant derived antigen preparations that dramatically decrease the rate of false-positive reactions. Various recombinant products are used for disease diagnosis in veterinary medicine and this article discusses recombinant-based viral disease diagnostics currently used for detection of pathogens in livestock and poultry.