DETECTION OF BOVINE HERPESVIRUS-1 GLYCOPROTEIN-E ANTIBODIES IN INDIVIDUAL MILK SAMPLES BY ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAYS

The purpose of this study was to determine whether individual milk sam ples can replace serum samples for the detection of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV1) glycoprotein E (gE)-specific antibodies. Serum and milk samp les were collected at the same time from cattle in BHV1-free herds, ca ttle in unvaccinated herds, and cattle in herds that were vaccinated t wice with a BHV1 marker vaccine, The samples were tested in two gE enz yme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) systems. In comparison to serum , the results showed that the gE-blocking ELISA was highly sensitive f or testing milk samples (0.96). In contrast, the gE ELISA was less sen sitive (0.79), The specificities of the gE-blocking ELISA and the gE E LISA for testing milk samples were very high (1.00 and 0.99, respectiv ely). The presented results indicate that individual milk samples, whi ch can be collected relatively easily and inexpensively, can be used i nstead of individual serum samples in the gE-blocking ELISA for the sc reening of cattle for BHV1 gE antibodies.