A European comparative study of serological methods for the diagnosis of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis

A comparison is made of serological diagnostic procedures used for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis in the European Community. A panel of 65 sera, including positive, doubtful, negative and diluted samples was dispatched to nine different European laboratories and tested by neutralisation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), indirect immunofluorescence and passive haemagglutination, according to the methods used in each laboratory. The results showed good agreement between the various tests for positive and negative sera. However, considerable variability between tests was noted in the "doubtful" category of sera. The highest test sensitivity, as judged by the detection limit for samples serially diluted in negative serum, was found with the blocking ELISAs. A need was identified for international standard reference sera to be made available.