Further evaluation and validation of a commercially available competitive ELISA (cELISA) for the detection of antibodies specific to equine arteritis virus (EAV).
Authors: Pfahl K, Chung C, Singleton M D, Shuck K M, Go Y Y, Zhang J, Campos J, Adams E, Adams D S, Timoney P J, Balasuriya U B R
Journal: The Veterinary record
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Validation of Enhanced cELISA for Equine Arteritis Virus Detection Equine arteritis virus (EAV) poses significant biosecurity challenges for stud farms and competition yards, making reliable serological testing essential for disease control and trade compliance. Researchers compared two generations of commercially available competitive ELISAs against the gold-standard virus neutralisation test (VNT) using 3,255 equine serum samples—including specimens from experimentally infected animals and field submissions tested against 25 different EAV strains. The enhanced cELISA demonstrated substantially improved performance over the original version, achieving sensitivity and specificity rates of 98.9–99.6% and 98.3–98.7% respectively, with performance consistent across both experimental and field-derived samples. These findings suggest the enhanced cELISA represents a viable, more practical alternative to VNT for routine EAV antibody screening, potentially streamlining diagnostic workflows without compromising accuracy—a particularly valuable advancement given the VNT's technical demands, longer turnaround times, and requirement for viable virus culture facilities. Adoption of this validated serological method could improve access to reliable EAV testing whilst maintaining the diagnostic sensitivity necessary for effective herd health management and regulatory compliance.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •The enhanced VMRD EAV cELISA can now be used as a reliable alternative to the more labour-intensive VNT for detecting EAV antibodies in routine practice
- •With >98% sensitivity and specificity, the cELISA provides accurate diagnosis suitable for disease screening, breeding soundness evaluations, and import/export certification
- •The test's high performance across multiple EAV strains makes it suitable for surveillance and monitoring in diverse equine populations
Key Findings
- •Enhanced cELISA demonstrated 98.9% sensitivity and 99.6% sensitivity in experimentally inoculated and field sera respectively
- •Enhanced cELISA showed 98.3% specificity and 98.7% specificity in experimentally inoculated and field sera respectively
- •Enhanced cELISA was significantly more sensitive than the original cELISA formulation
- •Enhanced cELISA performance was validated against virus neutralisation test (VNT) across 25 different EAV strains