QUALITATIVE CORRELATION OF THE MOUSE NEUROTOXIN AND ENZYME‐LINKED IMMUNOASSAY FOR DETERMINING CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM TYPES A AND B TOXINS1

Abstract
The efficacy of an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay for botulinal toxin using polyclonal antibodies was evaluated in relation to the standard mouse assay. Qualitative tests for toxin in a meat system inoculated with Clostridium botulinum and pure cultures of various aerobic and anaerobic bacteria showed that both the mouse neurotoxin and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays detected toxin in the samples. However the ratios of mouse:ELISA activity of culture supernatant toxins of C. botulinum showed wide disparity among strains of types A and B. Trypsin treatment resulted in a slight loss of ELISA activity but the mouse response increased.