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Page No. : 39-43

ABSTRACT

Cysticercosis is a major public health problem caused by larval stage of Taenia solium. A research work was designed and executed to standardize flow through assay (FTA) for serodiagnosis of cysticercosis in pigs. A total of 2758 pigs of Deonar abattoir, Mumbai were screened for cysticercosis which revealed the prevalence of 0.33%. The C. cellulosae cysts were used for preparation of cystic fluid antigen (CFA), whole cyst antigen (WCA) and scolex antigen (SA). The molecular weight of antigens was analysed by SDS-PAGE. A total of 125 pig sera were analyzed by FTA using CFA, WCA and SA. The seroprevalence of cysticercosis by FTA using CFA, WCA and SA was found to be 9.6%, 13.6% and 14.4%, respectively. The same number of pig sera were analysed by ELISA, which showed 6.4% seroprevalence. CFA was found to be more specific for FTA to detect cysticercosis with sensitivity 100% and specificity 98%. The results obtained by FTA and ELISA were analyzed using Cohens’s kappa coefficient which indicated that the strength of agreement between ELISA and FTA using CFA was very good, as ‘k’ value was 0.829. The study concluded that FTA is a suitable diagnostic tool, very quick and simple test, which can be used to monitor the occurrence of porcine cysticercosis in endemic areas.

Keywords : Cysticercosis, ELISA, FTA, Sero diagnosis, swine, Taenia solium