Technology Details:
• Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a mosquito-transmitted viral disease caused by the JE virus belonging to family Flaviviridae. It is among the most important viral causes of encephalitis, especially in rural and suburban areas where rice cultivation and pig farming coexist. JEV causes disease in equines, pigs, and humans. It is prevalent in eastern and southern Asia, including India. It has spread to Indonesia, northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Pakistan. It may infect a number of other domestic animals including cattle, sheep, goat, dogs and cats, with asymptomatic infection. JEV infected equines develop signs such as fever, anorexia, depression, impaired locomotion, impaired vision, paresis, and paralysis. The affected horse may collapse, fall in a coma and eventually die with mortality rate between 5% and 30%.:
• Serological tests are useful to determine the prevalence of infection in animals. The serological assays commonly employed include virus neutralization (VN), haemagglutination inhibition (HI), complement fixation (CF) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).:
• ICAR-NRCE has produced a recombinant protein-based indirect ELISA (iELISA) for specific diagnosis of JEV antibodies in equines. This assay gives specific results in less than 3 hours.:
• Antigen specific antibodies present in serum are captured by a recombinant antigen coated on to the solid surface. Detection of bound antibodies is done by adding secondary antibodies that are conjugated with horse radish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme.:
• The shelf life of the kit is for 6 months when stored at 2-8°C until use. The 96 well antigen coated microtiter plate/ strips once opened, can be stored in refrigerator (2-8°C) only for one month.