Evaluation of a commercial ELISA for diagnosis of paratuberculosis in cattle

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Abstract
Objective—To evaluate sensitivity and specificity of a new ELISA for antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis. Design—Cross-sectional observational survey. Sample Population—Serum samples from 590 cattle that were infected with M avium subsp paratuberculosis and 723 cattle that were not infected. Procedure—Serum samples were tested by use of an ELISA for antibodies against M avium subsp paratuberculosis. Results—Sensitivity of the test varied from 15.4 to 88.1%, depending on the clinical stage and bacterial shedding status of the cattle. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results obtained with use of the new ELISA agreed favorably with those of a previous ELISA. Practitioners must be aware of variability in the sensitivity of the test, which depends on the clinical and shedding status of the cattle, because this may affect interpretation of test results. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2001;218:1163–1166)