📄 Development of an equine coronavirus–specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine serologic responses in naturally infected horses

© 2016, Equine coronavirus (Eq. CoV) infection has been documented in most reports through quantitative qPCR analysis of feces and viral genome sequencing. Although qPCR is used to detect antigen during the acute disease phase, there is no equine-specific antibody test available to study Eq. CoV seroprevalence in various horse populations. We developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) targeting antibodies to the spike (S) protein of Eq. CoV and validated its use, using acute and convalescent sera from 83 adult horses involved in 6 outbreaks. The Eq. CoV S protein–based ELISA was able to reliably detect antibodies to Eq. CoV in naturally infected horses. The greatest seroconversion rate was observed in horses with clinical signs compatible with Eq. CoV infection and Eq. CoV qPCR detection in feces. The Eq. CoV S protein–based ELISA could be used effectively for seroepidemiologic studies in order to better characterize the overall infection rate of Eq. CoV in various horse populations.

keywords 🔗 clinical signs (108) 🔗 viral genome (96) 🔗 enzyme-linked immunosorbent (105) 🔗 immunosorbent assay (114)

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