An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for livestock hydatidosis based on a partially purified thermo-stable antigen.

Abstract

A total of 227 livestock sera including: 68 sera from cattle (35 from cattle with hydatid cysts at post-mortem inspection and 33 from cattle with no hydatid cysts); 80 sera from sheep (25 with hydatid cysts and 55 without); 79 goat sera (16 with hydatid cysts and 63 without) were examined by ELISA based on hydatid cyst fluid thermo-stable antigen. When a titre of 1:50 and above was considered positive, a sensitivity of 68%, 88% and 51%, and a specificity of 54%, 40% and 70%, were obtained with sheep, goat and cattle sera, respectively. Due to the low sensitivity and specificity achieved with this ELISA method, it was concluded that the test based on the thermo-stable antigen of hydatid cyst fluid may not be useful in the diagnosis of hydatidosis in livestock.