title: Comparison of a commercial ELISA with the modified agglutination test for detection of Toxoplasma infection in the domestic pig.
abstract: The modified agglutination test (MAT) and a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were compared for detection of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in naturally-infected market-aged pigs. Infected pigs were obtained from commercial slaughter facilities and from farms where infection had previously been detected. Infection was confirmed by bioassay in cats. For 70 bioassay positive pigs, 60 were positive by MAT (85.7% sensitivity) and 62 were positive by ELISA (88.6% sensitivity). Of 204 bioassay negative samples 193 were negative by MAT (94.6% specificity) and 200 were negative by ELISA (98.0% specificity). Good correlation was seen between MAT and ELISA results. The results suggest that the ELISA may be a good tool for epidemiological studies of Toxoplasma infection on pig farms.
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Building 1040, BARC-East, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA. rgamble@nas.edu
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Gamble
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Lambillotte
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D002415:Cats; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan