Assays to Detect West Nile Virus in Dead Birds

Abstract

Using oral swab samples to detect West Nile virus in dead birds, we compared the Rapid Analyte Measurement Platform (RAMP) assay with VecTest and real-time reverse-transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction. The sensitivities of RAMP and VecTest for testing corvid species were 91.0% and 82.1%, respectively.

Keywords

• West Nile virus
• birds
• diagnosis
• American Crow
• real-time RT-PCR
• dispatch