Expression of truncated phosphoproteins of Nipah virus and Hendra virus in Escherichia coli for the differentiation of henipavirus infections

Serological Hendra Virus Diagnostics Using an Indirect ELISA-Based DIVA Approach with Recombinant Hendra G and N Proteins

Since the identification of Hendra virus (HeV) infections in horses in Australia in 1994, more than 80 outbreaks in horses have been reported, and four out of seven spillover infections in humans had a fatal outcome. With the availability of a subunit vaccine based on the HeV-Glycoprotein (HeV-G), there is a need to serologically Differentiate the Infected from the Vaccinated Animals (DIVA). We developed an indirect ELISA using HeV-G expressed in Leishmania tarentolae and HeV-Nucleoprotein (HeV-N) expressed in recombinant baculovirus-infected insect cells as antigens. During evaluation, we tested panels of sera from naïve, vaccinated and infected horses that either originated from a Hendra-virus free region, or had been pre-tested in validated diagnostic tests. Our data confirm the reliability of this approach, as HeV-N-specific antibodies were only detected in sera from infected horses, while HeV-G-specific antibodies were detected in infected and vaccinated horses with a high level of specificity and sensitivity. Given the excellent correlation of data obtained for German and Australian HeV-negative horses, we assume that this test can be applied for the testing of horse serum samples from a variety of geographical regions.

Diagnostics for Nipah virus: a zoonotic pathogen endemic to Southeast Asia

Nipah virus (NiV) is an emerging pathogen that, unlike other priority pathogens identified by WHO, is endemic to Southeast Asia. It is most commonly transmitted through exposure to saliva or excrement from the Pteropus fruit bat, or direct contact with intermediate animal hosts, such as pigs. NiV infection causes severe febrile encephalitic disease and/or respiratory disease; treatment options are limited to supportive care. A number of in-house diagnostic assays for NiV using serological and nucleic acid amplification techniques have been developed for NiV and are used in laboratory settings, including some early multiplex panels for differentiation of NiV infection from other febrile diseases. However, given the often rural and remote nature of NiV outbreak settings, there remains a need for rapid diagnostic tests that can be implemented at the point of care. Additionally, more reliable assays for surveillance of communities and livestock will be vital to achieving a better understanding of the ecology of the fruit bat host and transmission risk to other intermediate hosts, enabling implementation of a ‘One Health’ approach to outbreak prevention and the management of this zoonotic disease. An improved understanding of NiV viral diversity and infection kinetics or dynamics will be central to the development of new diagnostics, and access to clinical specimens must be improved to enable effective validation and external quality assessments. Target product profiles for NiV diagnostics should be refined to take into account these outstanding needs.

Development and validation of an immunoperoxidase antigen detection test for improved diagnosis of rabies in Indonesia

Rabies continues to pose a significant threat to human and animal health in regions of Indonesia. Indonesia has an extensive network of veterinary diagnostic laboratories and the 8 National laboratories are equipped to undertake diagnostic testing for rabies using the commercially-procured direct fluorescent antibody test (FAT), which is considered the reference (gold standard) test. However, many of the Indonesian Provincial diagnostic laboratories do not have a fluorescence microscope required to undertake the FAT. Instead, certain Provincial laboratories continue to screen samples using a chemical stain-based test (Seller's stain test, SST). This test has low diagnostic sensitivity, with negative SST-tested samples being forwarded to the nearest National laboratory resulting in significant delays for completion of testing and considerable additional costs. This study sought to develop a cost-effective and diagnostically-accurate immunoperoxidase antigen detection (RIAD) test for rabies that can be readily and quickly performed by the resource-constrained Provincial laboratories. This would reduce the burden on the National laboratories and allow more rapid diagnoses and implementation of post-exposure prophylaxis. The RIAD test was evaluated using brain smears fixed with acetone or formalin and its performance was validated by comparison with established rabies diagnostic tests used in Indonesia, including the SST and FAT. A proficiency testing panel was distributed between Provincial laboratories to assess the reproducibility of the test. The performance of the RIAD test was improved by using acetone fixation of brain smears rather than formalin fixation such that it was of equivalent accuracy to that of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)-recommended FAT, with both tests returning median diagnostic sensitivity and specificity values of 0.989 and 0.993, respectively. The RIAD test and FAT had higher diagnostic sensitivity than the SST (median = 0.562). Proficiency testing using a panel of 6 coded samples distributed to 16 laboratories showed that the RIAD test had good reproducibility with an overall agreement of 97%. This study describes the successful development, characterisation and use of a novel RIAD test and its fitness for purpose as a screening test for use in provincial Indonesian veterinary laboratories.

Diagnosis of henipavirus infection: current capabilities and future directions

Since the last major review on diagnosis of henipavirus infection about a decade ago, significant progress has been made in many different areas of test development, especially in the development of molecular tests using real-time PCR and many novel serological test platforms. In addition to provide an updated review of the current test capabilities, this review also identifies key future challenges in henipavirus diagnosis.

Development of a neutralization assay for Nipah virus using pseudotype particles

Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV) are zoonotic paramyxoviruses capable of causing severe disease in humans and animals. These viruses require biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) containment. Like other paramyxoviruses, the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) can be used to detect antibodies to the surface glycoproteins, fusion (F) and attachment (G), and PRNT titers give an indication of protective immunity. Unfortunately, for NiV and HeV, the PRNT must be performed in BSL-4 containment and takes several days to complete. Thus, we have developed a neutralization assay using VSV pseudotype particles expressing the F and G proteins of NiV (pVSV-NiV-F/G) as target antigens. This rapid assay, which can be performed at BSL-2, was evaluated using serum samples from outbreak investigations and more than 300 serum samples from an experimental NiV vaccination study in swine. The results of the neutralization assays with pVSV-NiV-F/G as antigen showed a good correlation with those of standard PRNT. Therefore, this new method has the potential to be a rapid and cost-effective diagnostic method, especially in locations that lack high containment facilities, and will provide a valuable tool for basic research and vaccine development.