Exposure of swine to Trichinella spiralis antigen as determined by consecutive ELISAs and western blot.
Exposure of swine to Trichinella spiralis was evaluated using a combination of 3 consecutive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) based on larval T. spiralis excretory-secretory antigen as screening test and western blot analysis as confirmatory test. Ninety-three of 32,693 domestic swine sera collected in Georgia over a 5-yr period contained antibodies specific to T. spiralis (prevalence of exposure = 0.28%). The highest prevalence (0.52%) of exposure to T. spiralis was in samples from stockyards and salebarns. Prevalence of exposure in samples from cull sows from 1 slaughter house was 0.38% compared with 0.17% in samples obtained from farms. Pepsin-HCl digestion of diaphragms from 49 swine from 6 seropositive farms revealed 0.01 larvae/g in 4 swine from 3 farms. Determination of T. spiralis infection status of farms appears to be accurately determined with this combination of exploratory ELISAs and confirmatory western blot analysis.
Shin
S S
SS
Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens 30602, USA.
Elvinger
F
F
Prestwood
A K
AK
Cole
J R
JR
D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood*; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000276:immunology*; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000662:veterinary; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000469:parasitology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D007814:Larva / Q000276:immunology; D015995:Prevalence; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D017160:Trichinella spiralis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014235:Trichinellosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*
D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000947:Antigens, Helminth