Original Research

Evaluation of commercial ELISA kits’ diagnostic specificity for FAST diseases in wild animals

Vesna Milićević, Dimitrije Glišić, Ljubiša Veljović, Jovan Mirčeta, Branislav Kureljušić, Milutin Đorđević, Nikola Vasković
Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research | Vol 91, No 1 | a2164 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ojvr.v91i1.2164 | © 2024 Vesna Milićević, Dimitrije Glišić, Ljubiša Veljović, Jovan Mirčeta, Branislav Kureljušić, Milutin Đorđević, Nikola Vasković | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 28 January 2024 | Published: 28 June 2024

About the author(s)

Vesna Milićević, Department of Virology, Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
Dimitrije Glišić, Department of Virology, Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
Ljubiša Veljović, Department of Virology, Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
Jovan Mirčeta, Public Enterprise Vojvodinašume, Novi Sad, Serbia
Branislav Kureljušić, Department of Pathology, Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
Milutin Đorđević, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
Nikola Vasković, Specialized Veterinary Institute, Kraljevo, Serbia

Abstract

Wild animals, sharing pathogens with domestic animals, play a crucial role in the epidemiology of infectious diseases. Sampling from wild animals poses significant challenges, yet it is vital for inclusion in disease surveillance and monitoring programmes. Often, mass surveillance involves serological screenings using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests, typically validated only for domestic animals. This study assessed the diagnostic specificity of commercially available ELISA tests on 342 wild ruminant serum samples and 100 from wild boars. We evaluated three tests for foot-and-mouth disease: two for Peste des petits ruminants, two for Rift Valley fever and one for Capripox virus. Diagnostic specificity was calculated using the formula True Negative/(False Positive + True Negative). Cohen’s kappa coefficient measured agreement between tests. Results showed high specificity and agreement across all tests. Specificity for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) ranged from 93.89% for Prionics to 100% for IDEXX, with IDvet showing 99.6%. The highest agreement was between FMD IDvet and IDEXX at 97.1%. Rift Valley fever (RVF) tests, Ingezim and IDvet, achieved specificities of 100% and 98.83%, respectively. The optimal specificity was attained by retesting single reactors and inactivating the complement.

Contribution: Commercially available ELISA kits are specific for foot-and-mouth disease and similar transboundary animal diseases and can be used for highly specific wild animal testing.


Keywords

diagnostic specificity; ELISA; foot-and-mouth disease; FAST diseases; surveillance; wild ruminants

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Goal 1: No poverty

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