Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences
Detection of Classical Swine Fever Virus Antigen and Nucleic Acid on Blood of Experimentally Infected Piglets
Sachin Dattatraya Raut1*, Kaushal Kishore Rajak1, Ravi Kumar1, Amol Ramdas Gurav2, Manu Mohan1, Dhanesh Valiyavalappil1, Dhanavelu Muthuchelvan1, Pranob Dhar3, Awadh Bihari Pandey1
1Classical Swine Fever Virus Laboratory, Division of Virology, Indian Veterinary Research Institute; 2Division of TAH, IVRI, Campus Mukteswar, Nainital 263 138, Uttarakhand, India; 3Division of Biological Standardization, IVRI, Campus Izatnagar-243122, UttarPradesh, India.
*Correspondence | Sachin Dattatraya Raut, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India; Email: dr.sachindraut@rediffmail.com
Abstract
Classical swine fever (CSF) is an economically important contagious viral disease, responsible for high mortality in young swine population. Classical swine fever virus (CSFV), the causative agent of CSF, belongs to genus Pestivirus under family Flaviviridae. Early detection of virus /genome is important for employing the disease containment measures. In present study, kinetics of antigen in experimentally infected piglets was determined by antigen ELISA and RT-PCR. Out of 12 sero-negative piglets, six were infected with virulent CSFV by intramuscular route, while other six were kept as control group. Piglets were regularly observed on the days post infection (dpi) for development of clinical manifestations of infection. Blood samples were collected on 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21 dpi or till animal succumb of disease. Samples were screened by commercially available antigen ELISA and RT-PCR, for detection of viral proteins and nucleic acid to confirm the disease, prior to onset of clinical signs. Typical symptoms of disease were observed in the infected piglets on 10-12 dpi. Presence of CSFV antigen in blood sample from day’s 6th to7th post infection and viral nucleic acid on 6th and 9th dpi were confirmed by antigen ELISA and RT-PCR respectively. It was concluded by the present study that CSFV antigen can be detected even before the appearance of clinical signs. Such early detection can be used for field samples to test their repeatability and to prove as tools to control the spread of disease and to minimize economic losses.
Keywords | CSFV, Experimental Infection, RT-PCR, ELISA
