Comparative efficacy of indirect ELISA with competitive ELISA in the detection of bluetongue virus antibodies

Abstract

The efficacy of the indirect ELISA compared well with monoclonal antibody based c-ELISA with relative sensitivity and specificity. The higher prevalence rate ofBTV antibodies in sheep as evident in both the tests in the present and recent reports clearly reflects greater economic impact ofthe disease on sheep productivity. Though the sample size in th~ present investigation was :pot too large to provide an overall prevalence in the sheep population, it is preliminary information on the present status of BTV seroprevalence covering different geographical areas. High sero-prevalence of BT in India in contrast to the earlier reports reflects an increasing trend in the endemicity of the infection and warranting the need for its early control programme.