ABSTRACT. We evaluated antigen detection kits for human rotavirus with regard to their usefulness for diagnosing equine rotavirus infection. Limiting dilution analyses showed that of the seven kits investigated the Dipstick 'Eiken' Rota (Dipstick) had the highest sensitivity to two serotypes of equine rotavirus. The Dipstick did not cross-react with several equine intestinal pathogens. An investigation using 249 fecal samples indicated that the sensitivity of the Dipstick was 81.9% and 47.3%, and its specificity was 98.2% and 99.0%, and its concordance rate was 92.8% and 68.3%, compared with values obtained using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification, respectively. Although a negative result does not preclude the possibility of equine rotavirus infection, the Dipstick would be useful as routine test for diagnosing equine rotavirus infection in daily clinical practice because of its ease of handling.KEY WORDS: diagnosis, equine rotavirus, rapid antigen detection.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 72(9): 1247-1250, 2010 Equine rotavirus is a non-enveloped virus belonging to the genus Rotavirus in the family Reoviridae. Equine rotavirus infection is a major cause of diarrhea in foals up to 3 months of age [3,10]. Equine rotavirus has two outer capsid proteins, VP7 and VP4, which are independent neutralization antigens. VP7 and VP4 are classified as G (glycoprotein) serotypes by virus neutralization tests and P (protease-sensitive) genotypes by genetic analyses [14], respectively. Only G3 P[12] and G14 P[12] strains are currently considered to be circulating in the horse populations of Japan, Australia, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom [2,4,7,13,16]. Equine rotavirus infection has been diagnosed by electron microscopy, virus isolation, serological tests and molecular diagnostic methods [1,5]. These methods are not routinely available in diagnostic laboratories because they require sophisticated techniques and expensive equipment. It is difficult for clinical veterinarians to conduct these diagnostic methods as part of their daily clinical practice. Therefore, we focused our attention on rapid antigen detection (RAD) kits for use in routine tests in daily clinical practice. RAD kits do not require additional reagents, equipment or expertise, and results can be obtained within 15 min. RAD kits are designed to detect human group A rotaviruses based on the principle of latex agglutination assay (LA) or immunochromatographic assay. Because equine rotavirus is classified as a group A rotavirus, it is anticipated that RAD kits would also work for the rapid diagnosis of equine rotavirus infection. In fact, one LA kit (Virogen Rotatest, Wampole Laboratories, N.J., U.S.A.), which is not commercially available in Japan, has been reported to be useful for diagnosing equine rotavirus infection [6]. Although several RAD kits are available in Japan, their performance as regards the diagnosis of equine rotavirus infection has not been examined. In this study, we have ...