Evaluierung eines Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) zum Nachweis von Chlamydien-Antikörper in Seren vom Schaf

The evaluation of an enzme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)for the detection of antibodies against chlamydiae in sheep sera is described. Background activities frequently observed with conventional antigen were reduced by preparing the chlamydial antigen from serum-free cell cultures and by using an anti-goat/sheep IgG-specific monoclonal antibody. ELISA results were compared with those of the complement fixation test (CFT). When the immune response of sheep to experimental infection with a strain of enzootic abortion was studied, CFT and ELISA showed comparable results. In a serological study with 606 sheep sera, agreement between CFT positive sera and ELISA-positive results was 97.7 %. Furthermore, the ELISA detected Chlamydia-specific antibodies in 45.2 % of the CFT-negative sera