Application of latex beads agglutination test for the detection of the antibody against virus-infection-associated (VIA) antigen of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus

Latex beads agglutination (LA) for the detection of the antibody against vi rus infection-associated (VIA) antigen of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) viru s was estimated using experimentally infected animals. The VIA antibody tit er by the LA test were compared with the neutralization titer and the titer by agarose gel diffusion (AGD) test, which has been used as a standard met hod for VIA antibody titration. The latex beads were coated with VIA antige n in carbonate buffer solution (0.5M, pH9.6) for the test. The sensitivity of the LA test was clearly higher than that of the AGD test in the results for cattle and swine infected experimentally. The antibody was detected in the bovine serum obtained at the 13th week after inoculation by the LA but not by the AGD test. The LA test appears to be simple, rapid and sensitive for the detection of the antibody of FMD virus in the surveillance of FMD a nd the FMD quarantine of imported animals.