title: Sensitivity of the VecTest antigen assay for eastern equine encephalitis and western equine encephalitis viruses.
abstract: VecTest assays for detecting eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE) and western equine encephalitis virus (WEE) antigen in mosquito pools were evaluated to determine their sensitivity and specificity by using a range of EEE, WEE, St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLE), and West Nile virus (WN) dilutions as well as individual and pooled mosquitoes containing EEE or WEE. The EEE test produced reliable positive results with samples containing > or = 5.3 log10 plaque-forming units (PFU) of EEE/ml, and the WEE test produced reliable positive results with samples containing > or = 4.7 log10 PFU WEE/ml. Both assays detected the respective viral antigens in single virus-positive mosquitoes and in pools containing a single positive mosquito and 49 negative specimens. The SLE and WN assays also contained on the dipsticks accurately detected their respective viruses. No evidence was found of cross reaction or false positives in any of the tests. The VecTest assays were less sensitive than the EEE- and WEE-specific TaqMan reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Vero cell plaque assay, but appear to be useful for detecting arboviruses in mosquito-based arbovirus surveillance programs.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, PO 2087, Fort Collins, CO 80522, USA.
authors.forename: Roger S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Nasci
authors.forename: Kristy L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Gottfried
authors.forename: Kristen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Burkhalter
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emmerich
authors.forename: Kirti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Davé
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000821:virology*; D004663:Encephalitis Virus, Eastern Equine / Q000276:immunology*; D004667:Encephalitis Virus, Western Equine / Q000276:immunology*; D011934:Reagent Strips; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay
chemical_list: D011934:Reagent Strips