Characterisation of monoclonal antibodies to Epizootic Hemorrhagic DiseaseVirus of deer (EHDV) and Bluetongue Virus by immunisation of mice with EHDV recombinant VP7 antigen

Immunisation of mice with recombinant VP7 antigen of epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus of deer (EHDV) induced serum antibody responses to EHDV. Howe ver, from the 19 monoclonal antibodies (Mab) produced from these mice, 15 w ere specific for EHDV and four for bluetongue virus (BTV). No Mabs were ide ntified with the specificity for an epitope of VP7 shared by both EHDV and BTV in spite of the fact that they share a large portion of homology in VP7 amino acids composition. These Mabs were divided into dye groups based on their specificity and interaction with each other. Group II Mabs, consistin g of 13 Mabs, recognises a potential serogroup specific, linear epitope of EHDV VP7 antigen. One of the Mabs to BTV (Group V) was identified as BTV VP 7 specific with the possibility of being the serogroup specific and recogni zes a potential conformational epitope. Two Mabs from these VP7 specific gr oups were further analysed and found to be useful in a competitive enzyme-l inked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA) for detection of specific antibodies ag ainst EHDV and BTV in bovine sera.