Arbovirus diagnostic kits

The DeZi Network is preparing a curated catalogue of diagnostic kits for dengue, Zika and other emerging arboviruses, with head‑to‑head performance data drawn from evaluations across our partner laboratories in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. While that resource is being assembled, we recommend partner labs and surveillance teams follow the World Health Organization's guidance on laboratory testing for dengue and Zika virus infections.

WHO guidance covers assay selection across the natural history of infection — nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT/RT‑PCR) for early viraemia within 7 days of symptom onset, NS1 antigen detection by ELISA or rapid diagnostic test during the acute phase, and IgM serology from approximately day 5 onward — together with specimen handling, serotyping, cross‑reactivity considerations between flaviviruses, and quality assurance.

Recommended WHO resources

  1. Laboratory testing for Zika virus and dengue virus infections — interim guidance (WHO, 2022): the primary technical reference for assay choice, specimen requirements, and interpretation of results.

  2. Dengue and severe dengue (WHO topic page): clinical guidelines, surveillance reporting, and outbreak updates.

  3. Zika virus disease (WHO topic page): clinical guidance, congenital Zika syndrome resources, and surveillance.

  4. Integrated Guidelines on the Clinical Management of Arboviral Diseases (WHO, 2025): clinical management recommendations for dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever.

  5. Global Arbovirus Initiative (WHO GLAI, 2022–2026): a joint initiative from Health Emergencies Program, the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases and the Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals Department.

  6. Global dengue surveillance dashboard (2025): provides regularly updated data visualizations regarding ongoing dengue circulation.

Selected previous work from our team

Cost‑effective real‑time PCR assays for dengue and Zika viruses

  • Waggoner JJ, Gresh L, Mohamed‑Hadley A, Ballesteros G, Davila MJ, Tellez Y, Sahoo MK, Balmaseda A, Harris E, Pinsky BA. Single‑reaction multiplex reverse transcription PCR for detection of Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses. Emerg Infect Dis. 2016;22(7):1295–1297. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2207.160326

  • Lai YL, Chung YK, Tan HC, Yap HF, Yap G, Ooi EE, Ng LC. Cost‑effective real‑time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT‑PCR) to screen for dengue virus followed by rapid single‑tube multiplex RT‑PCR for serotyping of the virus. J Clin Microbiol. 2007;45(3):935–941. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01258-06

  • Humaidi M, Tien WP, Yap G, Chua CR, Ng LC. Non‑invasive dengue diagnostics: the use of saliva and urine for different stages of the illness. Diagnostics (Basel). 2021;11(8):1345. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11081345

  • Balmaseda A, Zambrana JV, Collado D, García N, Saborío S, Elizondo D, Mercado JC, Gonzalez K, Cerpas C, Nuñez C, Corti D, Waggoner JJ, Kuan G, Burger‑Calderon R, Harris E. Comparison of four serological methods and two reverse transcription‑PCR assays for diagnosis and surveillance of Zika virus infection. J Clin Microbiol. 2018;56(3):e01785-17. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01785-17

Serological assays for flaviviruses

  • Castanha PMS, McEnaney PJ, Park Y, Bouwer A, Chaves EJF, Lins RD, Paciaroni NG, Dickson P, Carlson G, Cordeiro MT, Magalhaes T, Craigo J, Marques ETA, Kodadek T, Burke DS. Identification and characterization of a nonbiological small‑molecular mimic of a Zika virus conformational neutralizing epitope. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024;121(21):e2312755121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2312755121

  • Guzman MG, Jaenisch T, Gaczkowski R, Ty Hang VT, Sekaran SD, Kroeger A, et al. Multi‑country evaluation of the sensitivity and specificity of two commercially‑available NS1 ELISA assays for dengue diagnosis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2010;4(8):e811. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000811

  • Balmaseda A, Stettler K, Medialdea‑Carrera R, Collado D, Jin X, Zambrana JV, Jaconi S, Cameroni E, Saborio S, Rovida F, Percivalle E, Ijaz S, Dicks S, Ushiro‑Lumb I, Barzon L, Siqueira P, Brown DWG, Baldanti F, Tedder R, Zambon M, de Filippis AMB, Harris E, Corti D. Antibody‑based assay discriminates Zika virus infection from other flaviviruses. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017;114(31):8384–8389. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1704984114

  • Pok KY, Lai YL, Sng J, Ng LC. Evaluation of nonstructural 1 antigen assays for the diagnosis and surveillance of dengue in Singapore. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2010;10(10):1009–1016. https://doi.org/10.1089/vbz.2008.0176

Coming soon

DeZi is currently preparing comparative evaluation data on NS1 rapid tests, multiplexed flavivirus serology, RT-qPCR assays and sequencing primers. If you would like to participate in our evaluation and/or be notified when these resources are released, please get in touch with us.