VIRUS SEROLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS IN 2 AVIAN SPECIES BASED ON BINDING OF HUMAN C1Q TO AVIAN ANTIBODY

Diagnosis of infectious diseases in birds using direct assays such as conventional ELISA or immunofluorescence require antibody directed to IgG of each avian species. In this study, we tested binding of human C lq to different antigen-antibody complexes of two avian species in a s andwich immunofluorescent complement fixation test (S-ICFT). The react ion was as follows: virus (in cells) + decomplemented avian serum + hu man-Clq + goat anti-human-Clq + fluorescein isothiocyanate rabbit anti -goat-IgG. Positive and negative chicken (order Galliformes) sera agai nst chicken anaemia virus (CAV) and sera against avian pox virus as we ll as positive and negative sera against chicken pox virus raised in a milvago chimango (order Falconiformes) were used. Positive sera of ei ther avian species demonstrated clear fluorescent staining of infected cells while negative sera did not show any reaction. This demonstrate d that both chicken and milvago chimango antibodies were able to bind human Clq. Since both avian species tested belonged to different order s, we believe that antibodies of other avian species will also bind hu man Clq allowing serological surveys in feral birds through S-ICFT.