title: Practical application of ELISA for detection of vertical transmission of leukosis virus in commercial layer hens.
abstract: The efficiency of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of congenital transmission of exogenous lymphoid leukosis virus (LLV) was examined using both vaginal swabs and albumen samples obtained from two layer flocks. Approximately 100 hens were studied in each flock by the ELISA and phenotypic mixing tests. ELISA testing on vaginal swabs identified 25/27 (92.5%) hens excreting LLV in their vaginal swabs and 16/17 (94.1%) of these hens that transmitted LLV to their embryos. Application of the ELISA to albumen samples was found to be as sensitive as testing vaginal swabs for detection of infected hens but also avoided 67 "false positive" reactors detected by the ELISA on vaginal swabs. Testing of albumens by the ELISA is thus recommended for use within commercial leukosis control programmes.
authors.affiliation: Animal Health Research Laboratory, CSIRO Division of Animal Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ignjatovic
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Bagust