Comparison of four different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for serological diagnosis of Salmonella enteritidis infections in experimentally infected chickens.

The program for the eradication of Salmonella enteritidis from chickens in The Netherlands is based on bacteriological examination of breeding flocks. There is a great need for a specific and sensitive serological screening test. For that purpose, we developed four different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), i.e., an indirect ELISA with S. enteritidis flagellin, an indirect ELISA with S. enteritidis lipopolysaccharide, a double-antibody sandwich blocking ELISA that uses monoclonal antibodies against S. enteritidis flagellin (GM-DAS blocking ELISA), and a double-antibody sandwich ELISA that uses monoclonal antibodies against S. enteritidis lipopolysaccharide. In the present study, we compare the results of those ELISAs with sera from experimentally infected 1-day-old chickens and with sera and eggs from experimentally infected laying hens. Experimental infections were induced with strains of S. enteritidis phage types 1 and 2, S. typhimurium, and S. panama. Sera were collected up to days 44 and 39 after infection from 1-day-old chickens and laying hens, respectively. Only the GM-DAS blocking ELISA was able to discriminate between S. enteritidis infections and infections with the other serotypes. This ELISA had both a sensitivity and a specificity of 100% for all serum samples from experimentally infected chickens. A field study is in progress to evaluate whether this test can be implemented in the Dutch S. enteritidis eradication program.