The Indian Council of Medical Research has developed an ELISA primary diagnostic tool for Nipah virus (NiV) screening in conjunction with the National Institute of Virology, Pune. The diagnostic screening tool includes an IgM capture (MAC) ELISA and an indirect IgG ELISA to detect IgM and IgG antibodies against NiV in human sera.

The NiV is a lethal zoonotic paramyxovirus that manifests in the form of severe encephalitis in infected patients. According to a study conducted by researchers from the ICMR, IgM and IgG-based ELISA kits for screening blood samples for NiV can aid in developing effective public health measures. In the study, the assay′s sensitivity, specificity, and cross-reactivity were evaluated using NiV IgM, IgG positive, and negative human sera and measles, mumps, rubella, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, and Kyasanur forest disease IgM and IgG positive sera, respectively.

The researchers found that anti-NiV IgM and IgG ELISA assays showed a specificity and sensitivity of 99.28% and 100%, respectively. When compared to the reference tests from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, the assay demonstrated a negative predictive value of 100% and a positive predictive value of 90 and 93.94% for anti-Nipah IgM ELISA and IgG ELISA, respectively. They revealed that the accuracy of the test was found to be 99.33%.