Comparison and standardisation of serological methods for the diagnosis of Neospora caninum infection in bovines.
Various existing serological tests were compared with a standard panel of 523 sera in a multicentred study across Europe. Well characterised sera from animals that were experimentally or naturally infected with Neospora caninum as well as sera from cattle deemed uninfected with N. caninum were provided by the participants of the study and analysed in several commercial (CHEKIT Dr. Bommeli/Intervet, CIVTEST BOVIS NEOSPORA Hipra, Cypress Diagnostics C.V., Herd Check IDEXX, Mastazyme MAST Diagnostics, P38-ELISA Animal Welfare and Food Safety GmbH (AFOSA)) as well as in-house assays (five ELISAs and one IFAT). Most tests showed a high level of agreement in the interpretation of the test results (positive or negative). A further distinct increase in agreement between tests was obtained after the application of standardised cut-offs offered by a two-graph receiver operating characteristic analysis. This procedure allows a standardised interpretation of results obtained with different tests used in independent, parallel seroepidemiological studies.
von Blumröder
D
D
Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Institute of Epidemiology, Seestrasse 55, D-16868 Wusterhausen, Germany. d.v.blumroeder@wus.bfav.de
Schares
G
G
Norton
R
R
Williams
D J L
DJ
Esteban-Redondo
I
I
Wright
S
S
Björkman
C
C
Frössling
J
J
Risco-Castillo
V
V
Fernández-García
A
A
Ortega-Mora
L M
LM
Sager
H
H
Hemphill
A
A
van Maanen
C
C
Wouda
W
W
Conraths
F J
FJ
D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000592:standards / Q000662:veterinary; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000592:standards / Q000662:veterinary; D018688:Neospora / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012372:ROC Curve; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / Q000592:standards / Q000662:veterinary; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic