Technologies

The current recommended assays for the identification of West Nile Virus infection of humans are the IgM antibody capture enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the IgG ELISA. Many laboratories in the US are performing these assays according to protocols recommended by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This combination of assays is highly sensitive and specific, but requires several days to weeks, and specialized facilities to perform the complete panel of tests. Our nonstructural protein assays can be completed in one day, and give presumptive evidence of current West Nile virus infection. Our three-layer sandwich immunoassay (antigen bead +human antibody + reporter fluorescent antibody) with two key reagents provides three different kinds of results with three variations of one assay including total antibodies (IgG+IgA+IgM) to two recombinant West Nile nonstructural proteins.

A newer, faster method has been developed to detect antibodies to two West Nile Virus nonstructural proteins utilizing a bead-based, flow cytometric immunoassay with multiplex capacity. Utilizing our new method, antibodies elicited by West Nile virus infection can be detected in recombinant West Nile Virus nonstructural proteins by microsphere immunoassays. It's sensitive, cost effective, high-throughput and capable of discriminating current West Nile infection or recent past flavivirus infections with flavivirus vaccines such as the Yellow Fever vaccine or Japanese encephalitis vaccine. Making this even more desirable is that it provides serologic data that would otherwise require a panel of ELISA tests and a plaque reduction neutralization test. Quantitative results are achieved in < 3 hours using 10-20 ╬╝l of serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Validation results are proven in sera from humans, horses, and birds.