PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF FASCIOLA GIGANTICA CATHEPSIN-L CYSTEINE PROTEINASE (FgCL3) BASED DIPSTICK ELISA IN NATURALLY ACQUIRED BUBALIAN FASCIOLOSIS

Buffaloes are the important multipurpose farm animals in the Indian sub-continent, contributing significantly to meat and milk production. The humoral immune responses to Fasciola gigantica cysteine proteinase in experimentally infected buffaloes have been widely studied. However, scarcely any literature is available on serodiagnosis of bubalian fasciolosis using purified cysteine proteinase under field conditions. In the present study, cysteine proteinase dot–ELISA using dipstick (dipstick - ELISA) was developed for the detection of natural F. gigantica infection. Faecal and serum samples were collected randomly from buffaloes (n=100) slaughtered at a local abattoir. Serum samples of buffaloes revealed 54 positive cases in Dipstick–ELISA, out of which only 35 were coprologically positive. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of cysteine proteinase dipstick–ELISA under field conditions were 100% whereas corresponding values for coprological examination were 62%, 100% and 80%, respectively. It was concluded that dipstick– ELISA using cysteine proteinase demonstrated a high prevalence of fasciolosis and could be a feasible diagnostic method for detection of natural F. gigantica infections in buffaloes.