Novel Antigen-based, Immunodiagnostic assay prototype for Fasciolosis

Fasciolosis is a zoonotic disease caused by F. hepatica and F. gigantica. The disease is considered a major human health problem. It is also a threat that damages animal productivity world wide leading to major economic losses. Though therapy leads to full cure, the need for fast diagnosis is a necessity for early treatment to prevent losses. Conventional fecal diagnosis based on detection of Fasciola eggs has proved to be unreliable due to the nature of the parasite. In order to solve that problem, a rapid and accurate immunodiagnostic tool is required. Many antibody based methods provide early detection, but all of them can not discriminate between current and old infection and can not be used in follow up. This book describes the steps of establishment and primary assessment of a promising and new antigen based tool in sELISA format. It is based on a 40 kDa immunogen of E/S origin, isolated from artificially infected sheep. The test highly specific in detecting F. gigantica infection in sheep. However, further testing is required to evaluate its full potential and for further development to be used in human beings as well.