Rapid detection of bluetongue virus in blood and organ samples using a capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

An antigen capture ELISA for bluetongue (BT) virus was developed using tissue culture supernatant to identify different BT virus (BTV) serotypes 1, 2, 4, 9 and 16, which have been incriminated in the current epidemic in the Mediterranean Basin. To obtain a positive result and after amplification in tissue culture, the minimum amount of infecting virus required was 100 TCID(50). Results from the antigen capture ELISA were compared with conventional methods for virus isolation and identification, such as virus amplification on embryonated chicken eggs (ECEs), followed by tissue culture and the direct immunofluorescence test. The sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA in infected tissue culture supernatant using homogenates of BTV-positive ovine and bovine organs and blood, without a previous step in ECEs, were 100%. The assay was also applied to homogenates of chicken embryo tissues, which had been infected with different BTV serotypes. This method enabled detection of the virus with 100% sensitivity and specificity rates, also using amplification in ECEs. Furthermore, among the various embryo tissues tested, liver was found to be the most suitable for use with ELISA. In experimentally infected ovine blood samples, the ELISA revealed the presence of the virus. Given the high sensitivity and specificity obtained with the BTV serotypes in this trial, the method should greatly facilitate BT diagnosis.