A rapid quantitative method for detecting infectious bursal disease virus using polystyrene latex microspheres

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Virology
• Immunodiagnostics
• Avian Pathology

Background:

• Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) causes significant economic losses in poultry farming worldwide.
• Accurate and rapid diagnostic methods are crucial for controlling IBDV outbreaks.
• Current diagnostic techniques for IBDV can be time-consuming or lack sufficient sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel immunodiagnostic assay for the detection of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV).
• To assess the sensitivity and specificity of the new assay compared to existing methods.

Main Methods:

• Conjugation of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific to IBDV to polystyrene latex microspheres.
• Testing the agglutination reaction of the antibody-coated microspheres with bursae and serum extracts from IBDV-infected chickens.
• Comparison of the microsphere agglutination assay with the agar gel precipitin test for IBDV detection.

Main Results:

• The antibody-coated microspheres demonstrated rapid agglutination with IBDV-infected samples within 10 minutes.
• The assay successfully detected IBDV strains and isolates from various infected chicken bursae and sera.
• The developed assay exhibited a higher titer (10- to 40-times) than the agar gel precipitin test.
• The assay could detect as low as 10(3.7) to 10(4.5) mean embryo infective dose (EID50) of IBDV.

Conclusions:

• A rapid and sensitive latex microsphere agglutination assay for IBDV detection has been successfully developed.
• This novel assay offers improved sensitivity and speed compared to the agar gel precipitin test for diagnosing IBDV infections.
• The assay holds potential for efficient field diagnosis and surveillance of infectious bursal disease in poultry.