[Use of indirect complement fixation test for studying foot and mouth disease virus]

The indirect complement-fixation test was used in experiments for the subtype differentiation, and with the agar gel diffusion and the serum neutralization test was studied the immunity in cattle that had already recovered from foot-and-mouth disease or were immunized against the disease. It was found that the indirect complement-fixation test is instrumental in the demonstration of the antigenic differences between the foot-and-mouth viruses. Comparative experiments have shown that the indirect test in this case is more expedient and of higher economic value than the direct CF reactions after Traub and Möhlmann and after Marucci. The assessment of the results of comparative investigations of sera carried out by the indirect complement-fixation test, the agar gel diffusion test, and the serum neutralization reaction revealed that the indirect reaction is a convenient, quick, and prompt method of work. Discussed is the sensitivity of the reaction and its advantages and its advantages in studies on a large scale on the immune status of animals immunized against F.M.D. or animals that have recovered from the disease.