Development and evaluation of a microimmunodiffusion test for detection of antibodies to pseudorabies virus in swine serum.

A microimmunodiffusion test (MIDT) was developed for the detection of pseudorabies virus (PRV) antibodies in swine serum. The optimal medium for the MIDT was determined to contain 0.69% agarose in 0.05 M tris buffer (pH 7.2) with 0.025% sodium azide and no NaCl. The PRV antigen prepared by (NH4)2SO4 precipitation of viral fluids (42.5 g/100 ml), dialyzed against distilled water, and concentrated to approximately 100-fold of the original volume with polyethylene glycol (mol wt 20,000) provided a good reproducible antigen. The sensitivity of the MIDT was compared with the microtitration procedure of the virus-neutralization (VN) test by assaying 2,203 swine serums for PRV antibodies. An equal percentage of serums was positive in both tests; 419 had VN titers of greater than or equal to 4, and 421 were MIDT positive. Serums (314) that had VN titers of greater than or equal to 16 were all positive by the MIDT. Of serum samples with a VN titer of 8 (53), 50 were MIDT positive, a 94% correlation, and of 52 serums that had VN titers of 4, 36 were MIDT positive, a 69% correlation. In addition, 8 serums that had titer of less than 4 by VN test were positive by MIDT. Seventy-one serum samples were too cytotoxic, markedly hemolyzed, or contaminated to evaluate properly in the VN test; of these serums, 13 were MIDT positive. The MIDT is an accurate, rapid, economical, and sensitive diagnostic test for the detection of PRV antibodies in swine serums.