Rabies testing must be fast, accurate, and unambiguous. It must minimize operator exposure and laboratory expense.
The gold standard for rabies detection is the direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) test. In May 2018, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the LN34 assay, a real-time PCR assay that detects a wide range of Lyssavirusses, including rabies. It’s taken a few years, but molecular testing for rabies testing is taking off.
There are several reasons why. DFA can be ambiguous or untestable, where PCR is usually definitive. DFA is intensely manual, where PCR can be automated. DFA detects the presence of rabies in a sample, but PCR can also report the strain of the virus, aiding wildlife management and other public health interventions. More recently, multiplexed PCR and optimized workflows are making it easier to implement PCR solutions in the rabies suite.
Still, rabies has unique requirements that present challenges: biosafety, training, turnaround time, and cost, to name just a few.
How should laboratories go about implementing PCR testing for rabies? We surveyed the literature and interviewed leaders in rabies testing at U.S. public health labs. We wrote up what we learned in a short Handbook for Rabies PCR. Some of the topics we cover:
- Why molecular methods such as PCR and sequencing are the future of rabies testing
- Challenges in molecular testing for rabies
- Considerations in molecular testing: training, equipment, controls
- Implementing rabies PCR: equipment, reagents, and a protocol
To get the handbook, email us at info@redbudlabs.com.