Establishment of a p30-based lateral flow assay for African swine fever virus detection

Abstract

African swine fever virus (ASFV) has continuously devastated the global pig industry. Viral persistence causes problems in large pig farms and kills small farms. Timely diagnostic tools play an important role in controlling outbreaks and minimizing losses. In this study, we developed a lateral flow assay to detect ASFV on-site. The VDRG® ASFV Ag Rapid Kit was established using two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the p30 protein. The conjunction pad of the kit was coated with a mixture of the mAb and colloidal gold. This rapid kit was capable of detecting 11.5 ng of antigen and 0.16 HAD50 of virus from samples, in 20 min for the entire procedure. It passed cross-specific tests using common viruses that cause infectious diseases in pigs. ASFV was detected after 4 days in experimental infection in pigs by the kit. The specificity and sensitivity of the kit for clinical samples were 99.88% and 84.52% (93.8% for samples with a Ct value below 30), respectively. Finally, the kit can detect 100% positive herd outbreaks. The VDRG® ASFV Ag Rapid Kit presents a useful point-of-care tool for ASFV detection.