Antigen - ELISA for detection of trypanosomes

• Main Authors: Masake, R.A, Minja, S.H
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Nairobi (Kenya) ILRI 1998
• Subjects: ANTIGENS; CATTLE; ELISA; TRYPANOSOMA BRUCEI; TRYPANOSOMA CONGOLENSE; TRYPANOSOMIASIS
• ISBN: 9789291460427; 9291460427

Diagnosis is essential in the management of disease, both at the level of individual animal and at the level of disease control in populations. The routinely employed methods for detection of trypanosomes are capable of revealing infection during the acute phase but as the disease becomes chronic, the power to detect parasites greatly reduces. This led to development and application of a new and more appropriate technique for diagnosis of African trypanosomes. Sensitive and easy to perform antigen-detection ELISAs, based on monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), raised against trypanosome species have been developed. The performance of these assays has been evaluated both in the laboratory and field and found to be more sensitive than the routinely applied parasitological assays. The sensitivity of these assays is not optimal and requires further refinement to enable them to detect, if possible, all the parasitaemic cases. Steps have been taken to achieve this but the changes likely to improve the performance of the assays have not yet been effected. The specificity of the monoclonal antibodies in capturing trypanosome antigens was evaluated using bovine sera obtained from trypanosomosis-free areas and shown to be over 92 percent specific.