Development of antibody detection assays for arenavirus serosurveillance studies

Arenaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that pose risks to human health, but detecting actively infected rodent reservoirs in the wild is difficult. Our objective was to develop an inexpensive and high-throughput assay to detect antibodies against lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) in experimentally infected mice. We developed a strip blot test to determine qualitative seropositivity and a cytoblot assay to quantify antibody titers. We report here the IgG antibody levels across three cohorts of mice, and further studies will quantify IgM-specific antibodies throughout infection. Together, this informs our field studies where we will establish infection status for wild-caught rodents.