Evaluation of a novel rapid kit for the visual detection of Newcastle disease virus antibodies

A sensitive diagnostic kit for the rapid visual detection of Newcastle disease virus antibodies is described. The kit--ImmunoComb--is based on a modification of the enzymelinked immunosorbent assay and was found to be highly sensitive for detecting local immunity as well as marginal levels of humoral immunity. Therefore, it determines status of immunity and vaccine efficiency. The assay is simple and does not require special equipment or laboratory facilities. This endows the new kit with field applicability. The effectiveness and reliability of the kit were proven by a series of field experiments. Tracheal swabs and blood samples were taken from 20 flocks (chickens and turkeys) and tested by the hemagglutination-inhibition test and by the new kit. There was high correlation between the methods where the level of antibodies in the flocks ranged between negative and very high.