SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY OF SEROLOGICAL AND BACTERIOLOGICAL TESTS FOR CONTAGIOUS BOVINE PLEUROPNEUMONIA

In 1990 an outbreak of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) occurr ed in Italy. Subsequent surveillance for CBPP was based on random samp ling in bovine herds, serological controls on all animals moved from t he herd of origin and controls on slaughtered animals. Official tests employed were the complement fixation test (CFT) and bacteriological i solation and typing. A total of 33,856 serum samples collected from he rds in CBPP-free regions were used to define CFT specificity, while sa mples from 595 animals from infected herds were employed to define the sensitivity. Ninety-nine animals from three infected herds were used to estimate the sensitivity of the isolation technique. Results showed the specificity of CFT (threshold +1:10) to be 98% and sensitivity to be 63.79%. The sensitivity of the test did not change significantly, regardless of whether the lesions were caused by acute or chronic infe ction. The sensitivity of the isolation technique was 54.1%.