IMMUNOASSAY FOR DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES TO SIMIAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS AND HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS IN SERUM

We developed a simple, inexpensive, rapid assay for the detection of a ntibodies to simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and human immunodefic iency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in serum, The immunoassay uses inactivated SIV and an HIV-1 gp41 transmembrane recombinant protein as antigenic a dsorbents on a nitrocellulose filter membrane, Diluted serum, with the addition of Protein-A-Gold, is gravity-filtered through the filter me mbrane, blocked, and buffer-washed, Antibodies to HIV or SN or both in serum bind to the appropriate antigen, and the resulting antigen-anti body complex reacts with Protein-A-Gold to produce a readable pink col or, Field evaluation of the test on 30 human and 70 nonhuman primate s era in Kenya and Zaire indicated that the test had at least 93 and 90% correlation with Western blot sensitivity and specificity respectivel y, Prior refrigeration of the test kit and incubation of sera during t esting were not required, This result indicates that the test may be a rapid, economical, and simple test for detecting HIV, SIV, or both in serum. This immunoassay can be useful for carrying out HIV and SIV se rosurveys in countries with limited or no laboratory facilities.