Use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of IgG antibodies to rinderpest virus in epidemiological surveys.

A comparison was made between an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the virus neutralisation test (VNT) for the detection of antibodies to rinderpest virus in field sera. The results did not agree for 6 per cent of the sera tested where 3 per cent of the samples gave ELISA positive/VNT negative and 3 per cent gave ELISA negative/VNT positive. The latter sera all had high levels of IgM antibody, which may indicate animals being at an early stage of infection or detection of a non-specific reaction. The ELISA results give a representative picture of the immune status for field surveys and a greater number of sera can be assayed with relative ease, compared to the traditional serum neutralisation test.