title: Detection of dengue virus NS1 antigen in infected Aedes aegypti using a commercially available kit.
abstract: Epidemic dengue has emerged throughout the tropical world. In the continued absence of a vaccine against dengue virus (DENV), mosquito vector surveillance and control programs are essential to reduce human infections. An effective test to detect DENV in infected mosquitoes would be a valuable addition to the surveillance effort. We investigated DENV detection in infected Aedes aegypti using a commercially available DENV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) ELISA kit (Platelia Dengue NS1 Ag), and by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and virus isolation assays. The DENV-infected mosquitoes were subjected to field-relevant conditions and assayed individually and pooled with uninfected mosquitoes. Overall, DENV NS1 antigen was detected in 98% of infected mosquitoes/pools versus 79% for RT-PCR and 29% for virus isolation. Our results indicate that NS1 is an excellent analyte for detection of DENV in Ae. aegypti and that the tested NS1 antigen kit provides a sensitive, rapid, and convenient test for DENV surveillance in mosquitoes.
authors.affiliation: Arthropod-borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Natalia.Voge@colostate.edu
authors.forename: Natalia V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Voge
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Vargas
authors.forename: Carol D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Blair
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eisen
authors.forename: Barry J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Beaty
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000821:virology*; D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; C079340:NS1 protein, Dengue virus type 2; D012367:RNA, Viral; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins