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Serological methods used for rabies post vaccination surveys: an analysis
Paola De Benedictis1, Marzia Mancin, Giovanni Cattoli
1OIE Collaborating Centre for Diseases at the Animal-human Interface, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell'Università 10, 35020 Legnaro, Italy. pdebenedictis@izsvenezie.it
Vaccine
|July 17, 2012
Summary
Evaluating rabies serology in foxes reveals that while different sample types moderately affect results, ELISA kits show poor agreement with the gold-standard FAVN test. This highlights the need for improved reliability in wildlife rabies surveillance.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Immunology
- Wildlife Disease Surveillance
- Diagnostic Serology
Background:
- Oral rabies vaccination (ORV) campaigns rely on assessing fox immunity to gauge efficacy.
- Neutralizing techniques (NT) like FAVN and RFFIT are standard for rabies serology, but ELISA kits are increasingly used in wildlife.
- Interchangeable use of NT and ELISA tests across different sample types complicates result comparison in European rabies surveillance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of sample matrices on fluorescent antibody virus neutralization (FAVN) test results in red foxes.
- To assess the performance of two commercial ELISA kits against the FAVN test, using a large field sample set.
- To address the discrepancies in rabies serology data arising from diverse diagnostic tools.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the effect of two common serological matrices on FAVN test outcomes in red foxes.
- Comparative performance evaluation of two commercial ELISA kits against the FAVN gold standard.
- Utilized over 700 field samples from red foxes collected during post-vaccination surveillance in Italy.
Main Results:
- Moderate agreement was found when comparing results obtained from different sample matrices using the FAVN test.
- The tested ELISA kits demonstrated very low agreement with the FAVN test.
- Relative sensitivity and specificity values for the ELISAs compared to FAVN were low, indicating poor performance.
Conclusions:
- Findings underscore significant reliability issues with certain commercially available ELISA kits for rabies serology in foxes.
- The study confirms the need for enhanced standardization and validation of diagnostic tools used in wildlife rabies surveillance.
- Improved reliability of serological tests is crucial for accurate assessment of ORV campaign efficacy and wildlife rabies monitoring.
