Comparative evaluation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect antibodies directed against glycoprotein I of pseudorabies virus and a conventional ELISA and neutralization tests.

To determine whether a newly developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which detects antibodies directed against glycoprotein I (gI) of pseudorabies virus, is suitable for serodiagnosis, it was compared with a conventional ELISA and two neutralization tests. The gI ELISA was 99.2% as sensitive and 100% as specific as the conventional ELISA. Antibody titers measured by the gI ELISA were lower than those measured by the conventional ELISA, comparable to those measured by the 24-h neutralization test, and higher than those measured by the 1-h neutralization test. After experimental infections in pigs, antibodies were first detected by the gI ELISA on postinoculation day (PID) 14, by both neutralization tests on PID 7, and by the ELISA on PID 10. All four tests showed the same rate of decline of maternal antibodies in pigs born to sows that had been vaccinated with inactivated vaccine. Thus, not only is the gI ELISA unique in being able to differentiate infected pigs from those vaccinated with gI-negative vaccines, but it is also as useful as a conventional ELISA and as neutralization tests for serodiagnosis.