title: A competitive ELISA for detection of antibodies to the group antigen of bluetongue virus.
abstract: A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was developed to detect antibodies to the group antigen of bluetongue virus (BTV). The epitope recognized by the BTV-specific monoclonal antibody was confirmed, by immunofluorescence staining of monolayers of virus-infected Vero cells, to be present on BTV serotypes 2, 10, 11, 13, and 17 but not on epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) serotypes 1 and 2. Sera from BTV-inoculated ruminants and rabbits were used to evaluate the cELISA and to compare its specificity and sensitivity with that of the conventional BTV-specific agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) and serum neutralization (SN) tests. Rabbit antisera to the 5 serotypes of BTV present in the United States had cELISA titers (inverse of the final dilution of serum that gave greater than 20% inhibition) that ranged from 32 to greater than 1.024. Seroconversion of the 8 calves and lambs inoculated with BTV was detected by all 3 serologic tests (SN, AGID, cELISA) by 6 weeks after inoculation. Specificity of the cELISA test was confirmed with bovine sera that contained neutralizing antibodies to EHDV but not to the 5 serotypes of BTV present in the United States; these sera gave positive results by AGID test but were negative by cELISA. The sensitivity and specificity of the cELISA test was further confirmed by analysis of a panel of bovine test sera supplied by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, indicating that the cELISA is a superior test for detection of BTV group-specific antibodies in sera from ruminants in the United States.
authors.affiliation: Applied Biosciences, Inc., Wilton, CT 06897.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Reddington
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Reddington
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: MacLachlan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D001820:Bluetongue virus / Q000276:immunology*; D002417:Cattle; D002460:Cell Line; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes / Q000032:analysis; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D005779:Immunodiffusion; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012418:Ruminants; D012756:Sheep; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D007106:Immune Sera