USE OF DOT-IMMUNOBINDING ASSAY FOR VISUAL DETECTION OF RINDERPEST ANTIBODIES IN VACCINATED CATTLE

A dot-immunoblotting (DIB) assay was used to detect rinderpest antibod ies in cattle vaccinated with Kabete 'O' strain vaccine, using purifie d rinderpest virus. Of 120 serum samples from vaccinated and non-vacci nated animals, rinderpest antibodies were detected in 80%, 88.4% and 9 1.6% of samples at 2, 3 and 4 weeks postvaccination respectively. All the serum samples from non-vaccinated animals were negative. The DIB r esults had a good correlation with those of the micro neutralisation t est. The technique is simple, easy to perform and suitable for routine use in detecting rinderpest antibodies following vaccination.