Evaluation of two commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for detection of bovine viral diarrhoea virus in serum and skin biopsies of cattle.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the ability of two commercial bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) virus (BVDV) antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) to detect virus in serum and skin biopsies.


METHODS
Thirty cattle persistently infected (PI) with BVDV were identified using routine diagnostic laboratory testing. Additional ear-notch skin biopsies and blood samples were collected from these animals to confirm the diagnosis, and from 246 cohorts, to determine their BVDV status. Skin biopsies were soaked overnight in buffer and the eluate collected. All sera and eluate were tested using two commercially available ELISAs for detecting BVDV antigen, and a subsample of positive and negative sera was tested using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. A study was also performed to ascertain the risk of cross contamination occurring during the collection and processing of skin biopsies.


RESULTS
Both serum and skin samples tested using either ELISA resulted in the detection of all cattle identified as PI and no non-infected cattle were incorrectly classified as infected using either method. Agreement between all assays (ELISAs, whether performed on serum or skin, and PCR) was 100%. No cross-contamination of skin samples between animals was evident using routine biopsy methods.


CONCLUSIONS
Viraemic cattle infected with BVDV were accurately identified using either of the two commercial ELISAs evaluated on either serum or skin samples.


CONCLUSIONS
Either skin biopsies or serum samples can be collected from cattle to determine their BVDV status. This should overcome problems in accurately identifying the infection status of young calves in which colostral antibodies might interfere with the antigen-capture ELISA.
Hill
F I
FI
Gribbles Veterinary Pathology, 840 Tremaine Ave, Palmerston North, New Zealand. fraser.hill@gribbles.co.nz
Reichel
M P
MP
McCoy
R J
RJ
Tisdall
D J
DJ
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D001912:Bovine Virus Diarrhea-Mucosal Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002417:Cattle; D001908:Diarrhea Viruses, Bovine Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000662:veterinary*; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012867:Skin / Q000821:virology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral