Project Number: 5430-32000-005-15
Project Type: Trust

Start Date: Oct 01, 2010
End Date: Dec 30, 2013

Objective:
1. To determine what time point post RVF infection and in which samples (blood, saliva etc.) are these assays effective, and 2.) To evaluate the compatibility of these diagnostic RVF tests with a DIVA control strategy which will be determined via comparison of sheep vaccinated with commercial or candidate RVF vaccines with wild-type infected animals. These studies may include evaluating the ability of diagnostic assays to detect infectious virus, viral antigen/s and virus-specific nucleic acids in insect insects.

Approach:
This project will utilize the expertise of three cooperative institutions to provide the experimental validation of safe (not contaminated with live RVFV) diagnostic tools that could be distributed to regional Bio-Safety Level 2 (BSL-2) diagnostic laboratories for early detection. The project will also develop and provide the initial evaluation of a novel SERS based assay systems for viral diagnosis. ARS has and will develop molecular diagnostic tests for RVFV nucleic acid. ARS has and will develop immunological diagnostic assays base on BLS-2 generated diagnostic reagents. ARS will assist and coordinate the evaluation of these assays through cooperators.