Comparison of three serological tests for Brucella ovis infection of rams using different antigenic extracts

The sensitivity and specificity of the complement fixation, gel diffusion and ELISA tests for the diagnosis of Brucella ovis infection of rams have been compared using three different antigenic preparations. The antigens obtained by petroleum ether - chloroform - phenol, or cold saline extractions gave poorer diagnostic results than those obtained by hot saline extraction in all the tests. The best sensitivity was obtained with the ELISA (97.6 per cent) followed by the gel diffusion (96.4 per cent) and complement fixation tests (92.7 per cent). The gel diffusion test detected as positive the two rams negative in the ELISA, while the complement fixation test did not improve the sensitivity of the other tests. Under these conditions all the tests were 100 per cent specific when testing sera from rams free of B ovis.