Comparative performance of lateral flow immunochromatography, iELISA and Rose Bengal tests for the diagnosis of cattle, sheep, goat and swine brucellosis

by Amahyel M. Gusi, Wilson J. Bertu, M. Jes ús de Miguel, Lucía Dieste-Pérez, Henk L. Smits, Reuben A. Ocholi, José M. Blasco, Ignacio Moriyón, Pilar M. Muñoz BackgroundBrucellosis is a world-wide extended zoonosis that causes a grave problem in developing economies. Animal vaccination and diagnosis are essential to control brucellosis, and the need for accurate but also simple and low-cost tests that can be implemented in low-infrastructure laboratories has been emphasized. MethodologyWe evaluated bovine, sheep, goat and swine lateral flow immunochromatography assay kits (LFA), the Rose Bengal test (RBT) and a well-validated protein G indirect ELISA (iELISA) using sera ofBrucella culture-positive and unvaccinated brucellosis free livestock. Sera from cattle vaccinated with S19 and RB51 brucellosis vaccines were also tested. Finally, we compared RBT and LFA using sera of white Fulani cattle of unknown bacteriological status from a brucellosis endemic area of Nigeria. Results and conclusionsAlthough differences were not statistically significant, RBT showed the highest values for diagnostic sensitivity/specificity in cattle (LFA 96.6/98.8; RBT 98.9/100; and iELISA 96.6/100) and the iELISA yielded highest values in sheep (LFA, 94.0/100; RBT, 92.0/100; iELISA, 100/100), goats (LFA 95.7/96.2; RBT, 97.8/100; iELISA, 100/100) and pigs (LFA, 92.3/100; RBT, 92.3/100; iELISA 100/100). Vaccine S19 administered subcutaneously interfered in all tests but conjunctival application mi...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research