title: The immune response of West African dwarf goats to chicken red blood cells.
abstract: West African dwarf (WAD) goats were immunized with chicken red blood cells and their antibody response assessed by direct haemagglutination. Kids of about 1 month old developed antibody titres (log2 5.63 +/- 0.69) which were significantly lower (P less than 0.001) than those of adults (log2 7.78 +/- 1.12) and 3 month old kids (log2 7.40 +/- 0.89). The antibody titres of the latter did not differ significantly from those of adults. It is suggested that this early immune maturity may play a role in the hardiness of WAD goats and in their relative resistance to helminth and protozoan infection as compared with local sheep.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ayeni
mesh_terms: D000354:Africa, Western; D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D002645:Chickens / Q000097:blood; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006041:Goats / Q000276:immunology*