Detection of Lassa Virus-Reactive IgG Antibodies in Wild Rodents: Validation of a Capture Enzyme-Linked Immunological Assay

Viruses. 2022 May 7;14(5):993. doi: 10.3390/v14050993.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of a capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of LASV-reactive IgG antibodies in Mastomys rodents. The assay was used for laboratory-bred Mastomys rodents, as well as for animals caught in the wild in various regions of West Africa. The ELISA reached an accuracy of 97.1% in samples of known exposure, and a comparison to an immunofluorescence assay (IFA) revealed a very strong agreement between the ELISA and IFA results (Cohen's kappa of 0.81). The agreement is valid in Nigeria, and in Guinea and Sierra Leone where the lineages II and IV are circulating, respectively. Altogether, these results indicate that this capture ELISA is suitable for LASV IgG serostatus determination in Mastomys rodents as an alternative to IFA. This assay will be a strong, accurate, and semi-quantitative alternative for rodent seroprevalence studies that does not depend on biosafety level 4 infrastructures, providing great benefits for ecology and epidemiology studies of Lassa fever, a disease listed on the Research and Development Blueprint of the WHO.

Keywords: ELISA; IFA; IgG; Lassa virus; Mastomys; West Africa; natural host.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Viral*
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Lassa virus*
  • Murinae
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Immunoglobulin G

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG; grant numbers: FI 1781/1&2-1, GU 883-1 and GU 883-2), the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (PANDORA-ID-NET Reg/RIA2016E-1609), the European Foundation Initiative for African Research into Neglected Tropical diseases (EFINTD, grant numbers 1/85/022 & 89 540), and the Leibniz Association (grant number: J59/2018).