Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Evaluation of a commercial ELISA for H5 low pathogenic avian influenza virus antibody detection in duck sera using Bayesian methods.
- Journal:
- Journal of virological methods
- Year:
- 2013
- Authors:
- Schmitz, Audrey et al.
- Affiliation:
- French Agency for Food · France
- Species:
- bird
Plain-English summary
Researchers looked at a new test for detecting antibodies to a low pathogenic strain of avian influenza (AI) in ducks, comparing it to the standard test currently used in Europe. They analyzed blood samples from 1,783 ducks and found that the new test was better at identifying infected birds but was less accurate in ruling out healthy ones compared to the standard test. Since the ability to find infections is crucial for screening, they suggest that this new test could be useful for monitoring AI in ducks, especially if positive results are followed up with more specific tests to confirm the presence of the virus.
Abstract
Following the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI), active surveillance of infections due to the H5 and H7 subtypes in poultry has increased and been made compulsory in Europe since 2002, by means of annual serological surveys using the haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. Domestic anseriforms, particularly ducks and geese, are more frequently infected by H5 low pathogenic AI virus, often subclinically, and represent a threat for other terrestrial poultry. 1783 sera, mainly from ducks, have been used to evaluate and compare a commercial ELISA kit detecting H5 antibodies with the currently recommended HI test. Different approaches to calculating specificity and sensitivity have been used, including the original Bayesian method. Results were similar when data were analyzed at the individual and batch levels, and when using different methods of calculation. However, results showed that H5 ELISA had both a higher sensitivity and a lower specificity than the HI test. Given that sensitivity is the most important factor for a screening test, H5 ELISA could therefore be recommended for AI surveillance, followed in cases of positivity by molecular tests aimed at detecting the virus gene.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23727545/