Evaluation of a latex agglutination kit (Virogen Rotatest) for detection of bovine rotavirus in fecal samples.

The performance of the Virogen Rotatest latex agglutination test (LAT) was evaluated for detection of bovine rotavirus antigen. Sixty-three fecal samples from diarrheic calves were collected from November 1999 to May 2000 and screened by LAT, the Rotazyme II enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and virus isolation (VI) followed by an anti-rotavirus fluorescent-antibody (FA) test to detect the presence of group A rotavirus antigen. Of the 63 samples screened by VI-FA, 33 (58%) tested positive for rotavirus antigen. When the results from the LAT were compared to those from VI-FA, the "gold standard" for detection of bovine rotavirus in fecal samples, the sensitivity and specificity were found to be 87.8 and 73.3%, respectively. Latex agglutination compared with ELISA (the reference method) showed 100% sensitivity and 96.3% specificity, and when ELISA was compared with VI, the sensitivity was 84.8% and the specificity was 73.3%. Latex agglutination is easy to perform in a short time and does not require expensive equipment or skilled personnel, and the reagents have long shelf lives. These factors make the LAT suitable and highly efficient for use in a clinical laboratory as a rapid screening test for bovine rotavirus.