Detection of Serum Antibodies to Psoroptic Mite Antigens in Rabbits Infested with Psoroptes Cuniculi or P. Ovis (Acari: Psoroptidae) by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and Immunodiffusion1

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Abstract
Previously noninfested rabbits were infested with either Psoroptes cuniculi (2 rabbits) or P. ovis (2 rabbits) to determine when serum antibodies to psoroptic mite antigens, as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunodiffusion, began to appear, and to correlate the serum antibody response to these antigens with the appearance of ear canker in these rabbits. Ear canker was first detected in infested rabbits at 2 (P. cuniculi) and at 4 and 7 (P. ovis) days postinfestation (PI). However, serum antibodies to P. cuniculi or P. ovis antigens could not be detected in the respective rabbits until 8 (P. cuniculi) or 7 and 10 (P. ovis) days PI by ELISA and 20 and 23 (P. cuniculi) or 15 and 32 (P. ovis) days PI by immunodiffusion. Serum antibodies to P. cuniculi antigens were also detected by ELISA in all of 9 additional rabbits with various intensities and durations of infestation of P. cuniculi and by immunodiffusion in 8 of the 9 rabbits. Serum antibody activity to P. cuniculi antigens, as determined by ELISA, was higher in 3 rabbits with longer infestations (>2 years) than in rabbits with shorter infestations. These results indicate that ear canker develops earlier than a detectable serum antibody response to psoroptic mite antigens. ELISA was also found to be more sensitive than immunodiffusion for the serological diagnosis of P. cuniculi and P. ovis infestations in rabbits.