Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Pasteurella Multocida in Rabbits and Serotypes of the Isolates

The control and prevention of pasteurellosis in rabbits which makes the hosts unsuitable for experimental use raised the needs to improve and simplify the procedures of Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for detect of antibody against P.multocida. A comparison on the sensitivity and specificity of bacterial culture of antemortem and postmortem samples, complement fixation test and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of 11 apparently healthy adult rabbits was conducted. The incidence rates showed 45.45%,54.54% and 72.73% respectively. The sensitivity for the three methods were 0.63, 0.67,and 1.00,and specificity for them were 1.00, 0.67 and 1.00 respectively. Somatic serotypes of isolates of P.multocida from rabbits of three groups (rabbits of group 2 were with clinic signs, those of groups 1 and 3 were apparently healthy) revealed no remarkable differences,and the predominant types were type 3 and type 3, 4. This was somewhat different from the reports derived from other states. As the antigen of different serotype used in ELISA may have different sensitivity and specificity, which is affected also by different preparation method, a type non-specific antigen should be selected to meet such request. The trial of accomplishment of ELISA without positive and negative controls was presented for discussion.