Technical Viability Of The Yf Mac-Hd Elisa Kit For Use In Yellow Fever-Endemic Regions

Yellow fever (YF), an arboviral disease, affects an estimated 200,000 people and causes 30,000 deaths per year and recently has caused major epidemics in Africa and South America. Timely and accurate diagnosis of YF is critical for managing outbreaks and implementing vaccination campaigns. A YF immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody-capture (MAC) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit, the YF MAC-HD, was successfully introduced starting in 2018 to laboratories in Africa and South America. The YF MAC-HD kit can be performed in 3.5 hours, test up to 24 samples, and includes all reagents necessary to perform the test, except for water used to dilute wash buffer. In 2018 and 2019, a total of 56 laboratory personnel from 39 countries in Africa and South America were trained to use the kit during workshops, followed by take-home YF IgM proficiency testing (PT) exercises. Participants received either a 10- or 20-sample YF PT panel and performed testing using the YF MAC-HD kit. All countries obtained 90% or higher correct results. These results verified the technical viability and transferability of YF MAC-HD kit use for laboratories in YF-endemic countries.Author summary Yellow fever is a vaccine-preventable disease transmitted by mosquitoes that annually affects an estimated 200,000 people and causes 30,000 deaths. Being able to quickly and accurately identify people infected with yellow fever virus by laboratory confirmation is critical for managing outbreaks and vaccination campaigns. A test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can identify yellow fever antibodies in a person's blood within approximately four hours. In order to assure this test could be used in laboratories located in regions with yellow fever transmission, workshops were held to train laboratorians from Africa and South America on how to use the test. Laboratorians were then given a panel of samples and performed the test in their own laboratories. Of the 39 countries that performed testing, all countries scored 90% or higher concordant results, demonstrating the successful transfer of this yellow fever antibody detection test.