COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE TWO METHODS FOR SEROLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIOUS BOVINE RHINOTRACHEITIS

Abstract

There are given the comparative results of the qualitative and quantitative study of serum samples from animals infected with the bovine rhinotracheitis virus obtained by the two serological diagnosis methods, these are virus neutralization and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The studies were performed at the Laboratory of Virology of the Institute of Experimental Veterinary Science of Siberia and the Far East, Novosibirsk. During the period 2013-2015 were investigated 246 serum samples from animals of 7 farms in different regions of the Russian Federation: Tyumen Region, Krasnoyarsk and Altai Territories, as well as the Republic of Kazakhstan. The statistical analysis showed a low degree of consistency in the results of the methods used. The Kappa ratio was 0.27. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of ELISA in comparison with VN were 99.5% and 18.7%, respectively. No correlation between values of antibody titers in VN and blocking quantity in ELISA was found. This indicates the fact that the commercial ELISA set used makes it possible to detect the presence of antibodies in the infected animals, but it does not provide a clear opportunity to conduct the quantitative analysis and to interpret results obtained. The use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay is advisable, when conducting mass (screening) studies with the purpose of detecting infected animals. The virus neutralization test allows us not only to identify infected animals but also to establish the amount of specific antibodies that gives an indication of the nature of the infection process.