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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #101864
Title: EVALUATION OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE ELISA TEST KITS FOR DETECTION OF SALMONELLA IN PIGS AT SLAUGHTER

Author
item Harvey, Roger
item FARRINGTON, LEIGH - TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
item Droleskey, Robert - Bob
item Anderson, Robin
item Stanker, Larry
item Nisbet, David

Submitted to: International Symposium on Epidemiology and Control of Salmonella in Pork
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: We conducted an epidemiological study to determine the prevalence of salmonellae in pigs at slaughter in an integrated swine operation. Isolation of salmonellae from lymph nodes, cecal contents, and fecal samples was by routine microbiological culture techniques and the results are reported in a companion paper. Simultaneously, and using the same samples, we evaluated two commercially available ELISA-based Salmonella test kits (Neogen Reveal and EiaFoss) for detection of salmonellae and compared these results to our culture results. The advantages of the Neogen test were that it was simple to use, did not require a great deal of specialized or extensive training for the operator, and had an 87% agreement (combined positive and negative) with the culture technique. The disadvantages of the Neogen test were that it was expensive ($12-15 per test), it cross-reacted with Citrobacter spp. and could not be used for cecal or fecal samples, it had a low sensitivity (37.5%), it had a "false negative" (compared to culture) rate of 62.5%, and it was highly subjective for colorimetric endpoints which produced too many difficult- to-interpret reactions. The advantages of the Foss test were that (using the feed protocol) it had an 85-98% agreement with culture results, it had a sensitivity of 96%, it had a "false negative" rate (compared to culture) of 0-4%, it had 0% "false positives," it did not cross-react with Citrobacter spp. and therefore was applicable.