EVALUATION OF THE ENZYME-LINKED-IMMUNOSORBENT-ASSAY FOR THE RAPID SCREENING AND DETECTION OF CLASSICAL SWINE FEVER VIRUS-ANTIGENS IN THE BLOOD OF PIGS

A workshop was convened, al which seven enzyme-linked immunosorbent as says (ELISAs) were compared with virus isolation for the detection of viraemia in serial blood samples collected from six pigs at lip to fou rteen days after inoculation with classical swine fever vir rls. All E LISAs were of the double antibody sandwich type, using monoclonal and/ or polyclonal antibodies to detect a variety of viral proteins in leuk ocytes, or in anti-coagulated blood or serum. Compared to virus isolat ion, specificity of the ELISA was good: only one sample found negative by virus isolation yielded a positive result in a single ELISA. Some false-negative results occurred with samples collected at up to eight days after inoculation, brit all rests Sound samples collected between nine and fourteen days post-inoculation to be positive. The ELISAs re quire less-specialised facilities and can be performed much more rapid ly than virus isolation, They are therefore extremely promising tools for screening large numbers of live pigs.