Detection of group C rotavirus antigens and antibodies in animals and humans by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays

Abstract

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were developed to detect group (gp) C rotavirus antigens and antibodies. Both assays were confirmed to be specific for gp C rotavirus by using serogroup A, B, and C rotaviruses; hyperimmune antisera to these serogroups of rotaviruses; and paired serum specimens from animals infected with gp C rotaviruses. The ELISA for antigen detection reacted not only with porcine gp C rotaviruses but also with human and bovine gp C rotaviruses. Following experimental challenge of gnotobiotic pigs with porcine gp C rotavirus, the virus was found by ELISA in all diarrheic feces. A high prevalence of antibodies to gp C rotaviruses was detected in sera from adult pigs (93 to 97%) and cattle (47 to 56%) in the United States and Japan. However, no antibody to gp C rotavirus was detected in the sera (n = 20) of adult horses in the United States. In human sera from Hokkaido, Japan, 3% of children and 13% of adults possessed antibody to gp C rotaviruses. These results suggest that the ELISA that we developed may be useful for surveying gp C rotavirus infections in animals and humans. On the basis of serology, gp C rotavirus infections are common in pigs and cattle in the United States and Japan, but they occur at lower levels in humans from the Hokkaido area of Japan.