Dipstick test to screen for bat-borne virus

Researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast’s (UniSC) Centre for Bioinnovation have led the development of a simple dipstick test to screen for a highly infectious, potentially deadly virus transmitted by bats to humans and pigs in Asia. Their research was funded by DMTC (formerly the Defence Materials Technology Centre) and has been described in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

The Nipah virus was first identified in 1999 in Malaysia, where it was associated with an outbreak of respiratory and neurological disease in pigs, with transmission to humans resulting in encephalitis (brain inflammation) and deaths. The virus has not yet been identified in Australia, though it is closely related to the Hendra virus which is transmitted by flying foxes to horses and humans and has caused fatalities in Queensland and NSW.

Symptoms of the virus in humans are fever, headache, coughing, difficulty breathing and vomiting; severe symptoms can include confusion, seizures, coma, severe respiratory distress and encephalitis. It is fatal in 40–75% of cases.

“Our test allows, for the first time, screening for the virus outside of the laboratory,” said UniSC Associate Professor of Molecular Engineering Dr Joanne Macdonald.

“We can do this through a novel sample preparation method that inactivates the virus in the first step of the procedure, making it safe to perform testing outside of a lab.”

Postdoctoral researcher Dr Nina Pollak, who applied the UniSC technology for Nipah virus detection, said a simple lateral flow dipstick showed a final result, similar to a COVID-19 rapid antigen test.

“However, it is much more sensitive than a RAT because it includes an amplification step similar to a PCR, which provides laboratory-level sensitivity but in a highly portable format,” Pollak said.

Macdonald said a rapid, portable, point-of-care test for Nipah virus would be useful in rural or remote areas in Asia where outbreaks of the virus have occurred in the past, as well as areas where fruit bats, which are known to carry the virus, are found. Indeed, the project team was awarded a high commendation at the Land Forces 2022 Innovation Awards in recognition that the diagnostic technology represents a capability advantage to Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and enhances Australian capability in rapid, accurate and low-recourse disease detection.

“Such a test would … be useful for healthcare workers, veterinarians, ADF personnel and other professionals who may be at risk of exposure to the virus,” Macdonald said, adding that the next step would be to move to clinical trials to demonstrate the test in people and animals in real-world conditions.

Image caption: Dr Joanne Macdonald in the lab. Image credit: University of the Sunshine Coast.