Evaluation of flow through assay as a point-of-care test for detection of antibodies against Fasciola gigantica in sheep

A novel flow through assay (FTA) was evaluated for detection of antibodies against Fasciola gigantica in ovines, employing excretory and secretory antigens (ESA) and somatic antigens (SOA) prepared from adult F. gigantica and serum samples from sheep (n=240) that were positive and negative for F. gigantica and positive for amphistomes. Of the sheep sera sampled, 38.75% and 35.42% were found to have antibodies against F. gigantica with ESA and SOA respectively. An ELISA protocol was used as confirmatory test. In comparison with necropsy inspection and faecal examination as standard, the ESA-FTA showed higher specificity (95.2%), sensitivity (100.0%) and accuracy (96.4%) compared to that of SOA-FTA (90.9, 100 and 93.0 %) with a K value of 0.98 indicating perfect agreement. Screening of serum samples by ESA-ELISA also revealed highest specificity (93.8%), sensitivity (100.0%) and accuracy (95.2%) compared to that of SOA-ELISA (88.2, 100 and 90.9%). The FTA results were comparable with faecal examination and ELISA and can be used as a point-of-care test for the detection of fasciolosis in sheep.