Dengue, a vector-borne disease remains as one of the most serious public health problems globally. Incidence of this disease is on an increasing trend and currently over a billion people in tropical and subtropical regions are at risk. In the absence of an operational vaccine, prevention of dengue virus (DENV) is primarily focused upon controlling mosquito vectors. Mosquito vector surveillance programmes require simple and rapid tools to detect mosquitoes infected with DENV. Here, we tested the commercially available DENV Detect™ NS1 ELISA kit (InBios International, Inc.) for detection of recombinant DENV-NS1 protein in Aedes mosquito samples. The kit was evaluated to find out the minimum detection limit of recombinant DENV-2 NS1 protein following the manufacturer's instructions. Initially, the NS1 protein detection threshold of the kit was determined and later the assay was standardized for detection of NS1 protein in Aedes aegypti mosquito pools containing 5, 10 and 25 mosquitoes. The ELISA kit displayed high sensitivity towards detection of recombinant dengue virus-2 NS1 protein in mosquito pools (up to 25 mosquitoes per pool) at 25 pico gram concentration. Since the commercial NS1 ELISA is highly sensitive and follows a very simple procedure, it could be employed for DENV surveillance in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, after carrying out laboratory and field bioassays with DENV infected specimens.
Keywords: Aedes aegypti; Dengue virus; ELISA; NS1 antigen; commercial kits.