VMRD-Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus, Antibody Test Kit, cELISA

• Research unit: FSVO
• Project number: 1.13.21

Short description (English)

Serological tests capable of discriminating between SRLV-B and SRLV-A infected animals are crucial to support the decision of focusing the eradication campaign on SRLV-B. Preliminary results obtained from a flock of 20 goats and 12 sheep strongly suggest that the so-called cELISA (Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis Virus Antibody Test Kit, cELISA – VMRD, Inc., Pullman, USA) may fulfill this requirement. Indeed, this test failed to detect 6 goats infected with an SRLV A4 strain. These SRLV-A4 infected animals were clearly seropositive in 2 additional commercial ELISAs and five thereof were also positive in Western blot. In contrast, the cELISA performed quite well with sheep sera, showing a sensitivity and specificity comparable to the other ELISA kits (1). In this subsidiary project we will test the consistency of this observation by testing goat and sheep sera obtained from animals of defined serological status and of different genetic background and geographical origin.

Project aims (English)

Our working hypothesis states that all 47 SU5-B positive animals will be confirmed in cELISA. Only a fraction of the SU5-A positive animals, classified as MVV infected, will be positive in cELISA and those sera should also show an absorbance near the positive cutoff in SU5-B ELISA. We expect a large fraction of the so-called SRLV-B positive by default to be negative in the cELISA. Additionally, we postulate that the cELISA will correctly classify SRLV-B and –A infected animals independently of their genetic background.

Publications / Results (English)

Related documents

• 1.13.21_DB_MJB_2013_Bertoni.pdf [PDF] 73 kB

URL-addresses (German)

1.13.21 Bertoni Prüfung VMRD-cELISA für Nachweis von SRLV B-Infektionen bei Ziegen (063-505/3/31)