Evaluation of 16 commercial antibody ELISAs for the detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus–specific antibodies in serum and milk using well-characterized sample panels

Abstract

We performed a thorough fit-for-purpose evaluation of commercial ELISAs for the detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV)-specific antibodies in serum and in milk by testing 2 panels of well-characterized serum and milk samples. Sixteen ELISAs from 9 different manufacturers, available on the Belgian market at the time of our study, were assessed for their diagnostic and analytical sensitivity (DSe and ASe, respectively), diagnostic specificity (DSp), and repeatability relative to the virus neutralization (VN) test considered to be the gold standard assay. Using serum as a matrix, DSe was much lower for competitive (c)ELISAs (min. 45%, max. 65%) than for indirect (i)ELISAs (min. 85%, max. 100%), partly because of the lower detection of positive samples from vaccinated animals included in the panel. ASe was also better for iELISAs; DSp was >95% for all but 2 ELISAs. Repeatability, expressed as coefficients of variation (CV) of optical densities, was generally good, although 3 ELISAs had a mean CV >10%. With milk samples, as observed for serum, DSe was lower for cELISAs (min. 57%, max. 75%) than for iELISAs (min. 61%, max. 89%), and DSp was high for all ELISAs (min. 94%, max. 100%). Both DSe and ASe were lower when testing milk samples compared to serum samples. These results confirm that serologic monitoring of BVDV-free herds should be performed using serum samples of unvaccinated animals to avoid interference of vaccination and to maximize the chance of detecting seroconversion linked to BVDV infection. Further investigations using a larger collection of field samples are recommended.

Serosurveillance and Molecular Investigation of Wild Deer in Australia Reveals Seroprevalence of Pestivirus Infection

“…Pestivirus antibody detection was performed in serum and plasma using a blocking ELISA kit with sensitivity and specificity comparable with other similar kits [31], also validated for non-bovine samples [32][33][34]. Concordance in results were found in eight overlapped specimens (serum and plasma), and two of the remaining overlapped specimens revealed positive outcomes only in one of the samples.…”

Prevalence of bovine viral diarrhea virus in dairy cattle herds in eastern China

“…A total of 402 blood samples were collected from herd #4 and herd #19 including calves, heifers, and lactating cows, and antibody against BVDV was detected by BVD/MD P80-ELISA test kit. The seroprevalence of BVDV in two herds was analyzed (a), and rate of calves, heifers, and lactating cows was statistically analyzed, respectively (b) In this study, bulk milk from 36 dairy cattle herds, which have no BVDV vaccination history and widely distributed in eastern China, was used to investigate epidemic of BVDV, as detection of BVDV antibody of bulk milk was a fast and easy method for the investigation of BVDV dairy cattle herds (Hanon et al 2017;Lanyon et al 2014a, b;Velasova et al Fig. 3 Isolation and identification of BVDV.…”

Herd-level infectious disease surveillance of livestock populations using aggregate samples

“…Clinical signs of BVDV include watery and/or bloody diarrhea, dehydration, pyrexia, tenesmus, tachypnea, and ulcers of the muzzle, lips, oral cavity, and/or nares (Goens, 2002). BVDV antibodies can be detected in bulk tank milk samples using blocking, indirect, or competitive ELISAs (Houe, 1999;Kramps et al, 1999;Renshaw et al, 2000;Lanyon et al, 2014;Foddai et al, 2015;Hanon et al, 2017). A Danish blocking ELISA demonstrated a diagnostic sensitivity of 100% and diagnostic specificity of 62% when testing bulk tank milk samples from herds with a BVDV prevalence of 26% (Foddai et al, 2015).…”

“…A Danish blocking ELISA demonstrated a diagnostic sensitivity of 100% and diagnostic specificity of 62% when testing bulk tank milk samples from herds with a BVDV prevalence of 26% (Foddai et al , 2015). Diagnostic sensitivities and specificities of competitive ELISAs were reported as 97–100% and 99%, respectively; whereas the diagnostic sensitivities and specificities of indirect ELISAs were reported as 94–100% and 98% (Hanon et al , 2017). As with SBV, bulk tank milk ELISA results were highly associated with herd seroprevalence (Lanyon et al , 2014).…”