Development of an immunofiltration-based antigen-detection assay for rapid diagnosis of Ebola virus infection.
Ebola virus (EBOV) has caused outbreaks of severe viral hemorrhagic fever in regions of Central Africa where medical facilities are ill equipped and diagnostic capabilities are limited. To obtain a reliable test that can be implemented easily under these conditions, monoclonal antibodies to the EBOV matrix protein (VP40), which previously had been found to work in a conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, were used to develop an immunofiltration assay for the detection of EBOV antigen in chemically inactivated clinical specimens. The assay was evaluated by use of defined virus stocks and specimens from experimentally infected animals. Its field application was tested during an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in 2003. Although the original goal was to develop an assay that would detect all EBOV species, only the Zaire and Sudan species were detected in practice. The assay represents a first-generation rapid field test for the detection of EBOV antigen that can be performed in 30 min without electrical power or expensive or sensitive equipment.
Lucht
Andreas
A
Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany. andreaslu@gmx.de
Formenty
Pierre
P
Feldmann
Heinz
H
Gotz
Marion
M
Leroy
Eric
E
Bataboukila
Pierre
P
Grolla
Allen
A
Feldmann
Friederike
F
Wittmann
Tatiana
T
Campbell
Patricia
P
Atsangandoko
Catherine
C
Boumandoki
Paul
P
Finke
Ernst-Jurgen
EJ
Miethe
Peter
P
Becker
Stephan
S
Grunow
Roland
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000956:Antigens, Viral