Clinical Parasitology

• WHO / WOAH Gold Standard for Rabies Diagnosis:
• The Direct Fluorescent Antibody Test (dFAT) performed on fresh brain impression smears (hippocampus / Ammon's horn, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata) is universally recognized by the WHO and WOAH as the gold standard test for rabies diagnosis in postmortem animal brains.
• It utilizes FITC-conjugated anti-rabies monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies to detect rabies nucleoprotein (N protein) antigen with sensitivity and specificity approaching $99-100\%$.
• nalysis:
• (Fluorescent antibody test): Correct.

Correct option: (4) Fluorescent antibody test

• Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV, Flaviviridae):
• Vector: Transmitted primarily by zoophilic mosquitoes belonging to the genus Culex (Culex tritaeniorhynchus, C. vishnui), which breed in flooded rice paddies. (Tick transmission by Haemaphysalis is characteristic of Kyasanur Forest Disease, not JE; Statement A is False).
• Amplifier Hosts (B): Pigs develop high-titer viremia without clinical illness, serving as the essential amplifying host that multiplies the virus in agricultural communities.
• Dead-End Hosts (C & D): Humans and Horses develop clinical encephalitis with transient, low-titer viremia that is insufficient to infect feeding mosquitoes, terminating the transmission chain.
• nalysis:
• Statements (B), (C), and (D) are true. Hence, Option 2 is correct.

• Diagnostic Mycological Features of Mucor:
• Fungi belonging to the order Mucorales:
• Apophyses: Absent in Mucor (columella joins directly to sporangiophore). True.
• Sporangia: Large, spherical/round ($50 - 300\ \mu\text{m}$). True.
• Sporangiophores: Can be branched. True.
• Rhizoids and Stolons: Completely absent in Mucor. In contrast, prominent root-like rhizoids are characteristic of Rhizopus (produced directly opposite sporangiophores at nodes) and Absidia (produced internodally between sporangiophores).
• nalysis:
• Statement 1 claims rhizoids are present in Mucor, which is not true, hence the correct answer.