title: Antibodies to mycobacteria in cattle not infected with Mycobacterium bovis.
abstract: An indirect anti-IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a whole cell sonicate of Mycobacterium bovis as the coating antigen, was used to detect anti-mycobacterial antibodies in cattle not infected with M. bovis. False positive M. bovis ELISA scores were produced in 6 cattle experimentally inoculated with Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare-scrofulaceum (MAIS) serovars 2, 8, 9, 14 and 18 and Mycobacterium flavescens, respectively. False positive ELISA results were also found in 39.5% of cattle from which other mycobacteria were cultured and in 56.4% of necropsied cattle with other pathological conditions. No M. bovis was cultured from these animals. Other groups of animals, with no pathological conditions, which had been tuberculin-tested negative, tuberculin-tested positive and never tuberculin tested showed positive ELISA results in 15.4%, 73.6% and 42.4% of the respective groups. The variation of these non-specific responses in uninfected cattle highlights the need for careful selection of negative controls in evaluating ELISAs for the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Animal Research Institute, Yeerongpilly, Australia.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Auer
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Schleehauf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D002417:Cattle; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000276:immunology*; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000276:immunology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial