RT-PCR: a Rapid Test for Anti-mortem and Post Mortem Diagnosis of Rabies Zaheer Hussain1,2, Muhammad Saleem Haider1,2

Zafar Ul Ehasan Qureshi3, and Charles Rupperchet4 1. Institute of Agricultural sciences, Punjab University, Lahore 2. School of Biological Sciences, Punjab University, Lahore 3. Veterinary Research Institute, Lahore. 4. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. Abstract for oral presentation by Dr. Zaheer Hussain Lecturer IAGS, Punjab University, Lahore Email: zaheersbs@gmail.com Ph: 321-9415938

Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease, means sure death when once rabies virus crosses the blood brain barrier of the victim. Although early diagnosis of rabies may not save the life of the victim, but still it is of prime importance to evolve intervention strategies to save the precious lives of individuals attending the patient. The 24 rabies suspected samples (2 saliva and 22 brain samples, declared positive on the basis of clinical signs) were processed for diagnosis of rabies through RT-PCR, Direct fluorescent antibody test (DFA) , Direct rapid Immunohistochemical test (DRIT) and mice inoculation test (MIT). Twenty three out of 24 samples were found rabies positive. The Saliva samples were found positive only by RT-PCR and MIT. The MIT is much slower and laborious as compare to RT-PCR, therefore, RT-PCR is more useful test not only for anti-mortem diagnosis of rabies but also for post mortem diagnosis. Its sensitivity and specificity approaches to 100%. It has advantage that it can amplify viral genome in decomposed samples or liquid samples (Saliva) where other tests sensitivity reduced.