Lung-tissue extract as an alternative to serum for surveillance for brucellosis in chamois.
Serological surveys are the most-used way to study diseases in free-ranging wild animals. However, the difficulty in obtaining a sufficient number of suitable serum samples is a major problem. To resolve this problem, we investigated the possibility of using lung-tissue extract in place of blood serum for searching for antibodies against Brucella abortus. Antibodies titres against B. abortus was tested from blood serum and lung-tissue extract from 112 chamois and 99 cattle. Although in complement-fixation-test, lung-tissue extract titres usually were one-to three-fold lower than serum titres, there was a good agreement between serum and lung-tissue extract positivity both in chamois and in cattle. The lung-tissue extract appears a suitable resource in monitoring brucellosis in chamois.
Ferroglio
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Dipartimento di Produzioni Animali, Epidemiologia ed Ecologia, Torino, Italy. ferrogli@veter.unito.it
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D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D001706:Biopsy / Q000662:veterinary; D002003:Brucella abortus / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology; D012756:Sheep / Q000382:microbiology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial