title: Evaluation of a latex agglutination kit (Virogen Rotatest) for detection of bovine rotavirus in fecal samples.
abstract: The performance of the Virogen Rotatest latex agglutination test (LAT) was evaluated for detection of bovine rotavirus antigen. Sixty-three fecal samples from diarrheic calves were collected from November 1999 to May 2000 and screened by LAT, the Rotazyme II enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and virus isolation (VI) followed by an anti-rotavirus fluorescent-antibody (FA) test to detect the presence of group A rotavirus antigen. Of the 63 samples screened by VI-FA, 33 (58%) tested positive for rotavirus antigen. When the results from the LAT were compared to those from VI-FA, the "gold standard" for detection of bovine rotavirus in fecal samples, the sensitivity and specificity were found to be 87.8 and 73.3%, respectively. Latex agglutination compared with ELISA (the reference method) showed 100% sensitivity and 96.3% specificity, and when ELISA was compared with VI, the sensitivity was 84.8% and the specificity was 73.3%. Latex agglutination is easy to perform in a short time and does not require expensive equipment or skilled personnel, and the reagents have long shelf lives. These factors make the LAT suitable and highly efficient for use in a clinical laboratory as a rapid screening test for bovine rotavirus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Medicine-Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Al-Yousif
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chard-Bergstrom
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bustamante
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muenzenberger
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kapil
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity