Efficacy of fluorescent antibody methods for detection of Pasteurella pestis in carcasses of albino laboratory mice stored for various periods

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Abstract
Fluorescent antibody techniques were used for detection of plague antigens in infected mouse carcasses stored at 4°–5° C., 20°–25° C. (room temperature) and 370° C. for periods as long as 340 days in certain cases. Tissues of two guinea-pigs infected with Pasteurella pestis were examined after 7 years storage at room temperature. The efficacy of the fluorescent antibody test was compared with blood agar plate culture and animal inoculation during periods in which viable plague bacilli were presumed to be present, and compared with Larson's modified Ascoli test for the presence of soluble plague antigens during periods in which plague bacteria were presumed to be non-viable.Fluorescent antibody tests were superior to animal inoculation or cultural methods in detection of P. pestis antigens in mouse carcasses stored for 4 days or longer at 37° C., for 8 days or longer at 20°–25° C. (room temperature), and for 34 days or longer at 4°–5° C. Upon examination of specimens presumed to lack viable plague organisms the fluorescent antibody test and precipitin tests were approximately equal in efficiency for detection of plague antigens in carcasses stored for 16–82 days at 37° C. and for 16–82 days at 20°–25° C. Ten of 21 mice stored for longer periods (140 and 340 days) at 4°–5° C. were negative by precipitin tests, whereas 19 of the same 21 rodents were positive by fluorescent antibody tests. In addition, after 7 years storage at room temperature tissues of two plague-infected guinea-pigs were negative by Larson's modified Ascoli test but positive by the fluorescent antibody test.