Abstract
Aim: To assess the suitability, sensitivity and specificity of F gene based RT-PCR for detection of PPRV infection in India. Materials and Methods: A total of 26 blood samples collected from 26 animals suspected for Peste des petits ruminant (PPR) were tested by RT- PCR using F1/F2 primers set and then compared with sandwich-ELISA for detection of PPR virus. Results: Out of 26 samples tested RT-PCR reported 10 (38.46%) samples as positive as compared to Sandwich-ELISA which reported 11(42.30%) samples as positive for PPR virus. Further analysis of samples revealed that 3 (11.53%) samples which were negative by sandwich-ELISA reported positive with RT-PCR. Whereas 4 (15.38 %) samples shown negative by RT-PCR were positive with sandwich-ELISA. The relative sensitivity and specificity of F-gene based RT-PCR when compared with sandwich-ELISA was 63.60% and 80.00%, respectively. The overall agreement between the two tests was of 73.10% with kappa value 0.442, which suggesting a moderate agreement between the two tests. Conclusion: A low sensitivity and specificity along with moderate agreement shown by F- gene based RT-PCR when compared with sandwich ELISA suggests that some other highly sensitive and specific primers should be explored for detection of PPR by RT-PCR.
Highlights
Peste des petits ruminant (PPR), which literally means “Plague of small ruminants”, causes high morbidity and mortality in susceptible sheep and goats [1]
F-gene based reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was compared parallel to sandwich-ELISA for evaluation of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of F-gene based RT-PCR for detection of PPR virus antigen
In the present study it was observed that out of 26 samples tested RT-PCR reported 10 (38.46%) samples as positive as compared to Sandwich-ELISA which reported 11(42.30%) samples as positive for PPR virus
Summary
Peste des petits ruminant (PPR), which literally means “Plague of small ruminants”, causes high morbidity and mortality in susceptible sheep and goats [1]. The virus can be genetically grouped into four distinct lineages (I, II, III, and IV) based on partial fusion protein (F) or nucleoprotein (N) gene sequence analysis. In India, the disease was first reported in 1987 from the village Arasur of Tamil Nadu [7] and since it has become endemic in India [1,5,8]. Economic losses due to PPR have been estimated to be 1800 million Indian rupees annualy and presently this disease is considered as one of the major threats to small ruminant population of the country [9]. A reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique using F-gene primers developed by Forsyth
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