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Title: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - SUPERVISED INTERLABORATORY COMPARISON OF ELISASFOR THE SEROLOGICAL DETECTION OF SALMONELLA ENTERICA SEROTYPE ENTERITIDIS IN CHICKENS

Author
item BARROW, P. - UNITED KINGDOM
item DESMIDT, M. - BELGIUM
item DUCATELLE, R. - BELGIUM
item GUITTET, M. - FRANCE
item VAN DER HEIJDEN, H. - THE NETHERLANDS
item Holt, Peter
item HUIS IN'T VELT, J. - THE NETHERLANDS
item MCDONOUGH, P. - CORNELL UNIVERSITY
item NAGARAJA, K. - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item PORTER, R. - PURDUE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Epidemiology and Infection
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/27/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Because of the international problem of Salmonella enteritidis (SE) infections due to the consumption of eggs or egg products contaminated with SE, a study was set up by the World Health Organization to determine how different ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay) serological procedures from laboratories in Western Europe and the U.S. detected SE infections in flocks. Sera from birds with different degrees of infectio were sent to the test laboratories and the investigation compared how each laboratory interpreted their results for samples with the different reactivities. Overall, the various assays provided similar results although differences did arise on sera from birds with lesser SE infections which appeared to reflect the laboratories' own criteria for cut-off of a positive or negative result.

Technical Abstract: A collaborative exercise, supervised by the World Health Organization, was set up to compare ELISAs used for the serological detection of Salmonella enteritica serotype Enteritidis in chickens. The aim was to ascertain how far agreement could be reached on the interpretation of optical density readings for high titer, intermediate titer and low titer sera. Two sets of sera were sent to 14 participants. The first set compared high, mediu and low titer sera raised in specified-pathogen-free and commercial broiler breeder chickens. The second set comprised 20 sera of different antibody titers raised in commercial birds reared under laboratory conditions and sent blind. Both indirect and double-antibody sandwich blocking ELISAs were used with a number of different detecting antigens. With a few exceptions good agreement was reached on the interpretation of results obtained from high and low titer sera from the optical density obtained with a single serum dilution. Differences were observed in the interpretation of medium titer sera. The results suggested that most ELISAs produce reasonably comparable results and that practical problems may arise from interpretation of the results mainly as a result of the choice of the criteria used for differentiating sera obtained from infected and uninfected chickens.