Cross Sectional Study for Evaluation of Rapid Test and RT-PCR in Detection of BRV in Fecal Samples of Diarrhetic Calves in Egypt

In the present study, forty-three fecal samples were collected between 2018 and 2020, were tested for bovine Rotavirus (RBV) by rapid commercial strip test, Ag detection sandwich ELISA and RT-PCR for screening and matching of sensitivity and specificity. Our results revealed that seven samples (7/43; 16.2%) were positive by rapid test, fourteen and ten samples were positive by Ag detection ELISA (14/43; 32.5%) and RT-PCR (10/43; 23.2%), respectively. Sequence analysis for one positive sample showed its complete identity with the recent BRV Egyptian strains which reassures the vaccine reliability and negates any recent virus evolution. Meanwhile, comparison between both the rapid test and RT-PCR and ELISA, the sensitivity was 50% and 71.5% respectively, while specificity was identical. In conclusions, ELISA can be considered as a simple, sensitive and reliable test for BRV detection and devoid the drawbacks of other tests.