DETECTION OF CLOSTRIDIUM-PERFRINGENS TYPE-D-EPSILON ANTITOXIN IN SERUM OF GOATS BY COMPETITIVE AND INDIRECT ELISA

Indirect and competitive ELISA techniques were developed and their abi lity to detect antibodies to Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin in goat serum was compared. Different dilutions of a hyperimmune goat ser um, in serum from a colostrum-deprived kid, were used as positive cont rols, while sera from eleven colostrum-deprived kids were used as nega tive controls. The epsilon toxin antibodies in the hyperimmune serum w ere also measured by mouse neutralisation test (MNT). The correlation coefficient between both the indirect ELISA technique and MNT was 0.99 , while the same coefficient for the competitive ELISA was 0.98. Both the indirect and competitive ELISAs proved to be rapid, simple, sensit ive and specific for detecting antibodies to C. perfringens epsilon to xin in serum of goats. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.