P 21 - Defining Internal Cut Off Values for Operational Use with the Co-Diagnostics, Inc. Vector Smart™ North American Mosquito West (NAM-w) Multiplex RT-qPCR Assay

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

12:15pm – 1:15pm

Location: The Grand Hall

Abstract: In 2023, the Canyon County Mosquito Abatement District in south-western Idaho, established in house RT-qPCR testing for West Nile virus (WNV), St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV), and western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV). When deciding on purchases to augment the laboratory as approved by the Board of Commissioners, the Co-Diagnostics Vector Smart™ North American Mosquito West (NAM-w) was selected instead of developing our own triplex RT-qPCR to begin testing as soon as equipment was delivered. The NAM-w kit included positive controls for WNV, SLEV, and WEEV, as well an extraction control, has been validated and used by other districts, and had a simple workflow and interpretation for results. The goal was to save time in getting up and running in contrast to developing, testing, and validating a new protocol, or one adapted from a different laboratory. To increase our testing capacity, we purchased a Rotor-Gene Q thermocycler capable of concurrently running 100 samples per run instead of the Co-Dx Box™ which would have limited us to 24 samples per run using the NAM-w assay. Because we purchased equipment that Co-Diagnostics hadn’t validated for running the NAM-w assay, we did encounter issues that were resolved through validation steps, protocol refinements, and modifying our internal definitions of positive results for use in our operational decisions.