External quality assessment of Rift Valley fever diagnosis in countries at risk of the disease: African, Indian Ocean and Middle-East regions

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), an arbovirus belonging to the Phlebovirus genus of the Phenuiviridae family, causes the zoonotic and mosquito-borne RVF. The virus, which primarily affects livestock (ruminants and camels) and humans, is at the origin of recent major outbreaks across the African conti...

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Published in:	PloS one Vol. 16; no. 5; p. e0251263
Main Authors:	Pedarrieu, Aurélie, El Mellouli, Fatiha, Khallouki, Hanane, Zro, Khalil, Sebbar, Ghizlane, Sghaier, Soufien, Madani, Hafsa, Bouayed, Nadera, Lo, Modou Moustapha, Diop, Mariame, Ould El Mamy, Ahmed Bezeid, Barry, Yahya, Dakouo, Marthin, Traore, Abdallah, Gagara, Haladou, Souley, Maman Moutari, Acha, Sara, Mapaco, Laurenco, Chang'a, Jelly, Nyakilinga, Denis, Lubisi, Baratang A, Tshabalala, Thabisile, Filippone, Claudia, Heraud, Jean Michel, Chamassy, Sitty-Bahyat, Achiraffi, Abdou, Keck, Nicolas, Grard, Gilda, Mohammed, Kareem Abdelfattah Abdelwahab, Alrizqi, Abdulwahed Mohammed, Cetre-Sossah, Catherine
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 19-05-2021 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Agricultural research Antibodies Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Biology and life sciences Camels Coccidioidomycosis Diagnosis Emergency communications systems Emerging diseases Endemic diseases Fever Health risks Human health and pathology Immunoglobulin G Infectious diseases Laboratories Life Sciences Livestock Medical diagnosis Medicine and health sciences Microbiology and Parasitology Molecular biology Mosquitoes Oceans Outbreaks People and Places Quality assessment Quality control Research and Analysis Methods Rift Valley fever Risk factors Santé publique et épidémiologie Sensitivity analysis Serology Surveillance Vector-borne diseases Viral diseases Virology Viruses Zoonoses United States Indian Ocean Niger Africa Tanzania Sudan North Africa Madagascar Libya Middle East Saudi Arabia Mozambique Mauritania Morocco Mali Senegal South Africa Algeria Comoro Islands France
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Summary:	Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV), an arbovirus belonging to the Phlebovirus genus of the Phenuiviridae family, causes the zoonotic and mosquito-borne RVF. The virus, which primarily affects livestock (ruminants and camels) and humans, is at the origin of recent major outbreaks across the African continent (Mauritania, Libya, Sudan), and in the South-Western Indian Ocean (SWIO) islands (Mayotte). In order to be better prepared for upcoming outbreaks, to predict its introduction in RVFV unscathed countries, and to run efficient surveillance programmes, the priority is harmonising and improving the diagnostic capacity of endemic countries and/or countries considered to be at risk of RVF. A serological inter-laboratory proficiency test (PT) was implemented to assess the capacity of veterinary laboratories to detect antibodies against RVFV. A total of 18 laboratories in 13 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa, and the Indian Ocean participated in the initiative. Two commercial kits and two in-house serological assays for the detection of RVFV specific IgG antibodies were tested. Sixteen of the 18 participating laboratories (88.9%) used commercial kits, the analytical performance of test sensitivity and specificity based on the seroneutralisation test considered as the reference was 100%. The results obtained by the laboratories which used the in-house assay were correct in only one of the two criteria (either sensitivity or specificity). In conclusion, most of the laboratories performed well in detecting RVFV specific IgG antibodies and can therefore be considered to be prepared. Three laboratories in three countries need to improve their detection capacities. Our study demonstrates the importance of conducting regular proficiency tests to evaluate the level of preparedness of countries and of building a network of competent laboratories in terms of laboratory diagnosis to better face future emerging diseases in emergency conditions.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 PMCID: PMC8133482 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0251263