Comparison of three commercial ELISA kits for the detection of turkey rhinotracheitis virus antibodies.

Three commercial ELISAs (Pathasure, Svanovir and Flockscreen) were compared in their ability to detect turkey rhinotracheitis virus (TRTV) vaccine-induced antibodies. Sequential sera taken from specified pathogen-free chickens, vaccinated with two combinations of live and inactivated TRTV vaccines were used. The vaccines were based on TRTV strains from the United Kingdom (Intervet) and from France (Rhone Merieux). One ELISA failed to detect antibodies after live vaccination with both French and UK vaccines, but detected antibodies induced by both inactivated vaccines by 8 days after vaccination. The two other ELISAs responded to both live vaccinations equally well and both detected a rise in antibody level 8 days after the inactivated vaccination. The specificity of the three ELISAs was 100%. When tested on field samples, all three ELISAs indicated a high prevalence of TRTV antibodies in turkey flocks in the Netherlands.