Horigan Mark W, Bell Michael M, Pollard Tim R, Sayers Anthony R, Pritchard Geoff C
Veterinary Laboratories Agency, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK.
J Vet Diagn Invest. 2011 Sep;23(5):924-31. doi: 10.1177/1040638711416971.
Q fever is an important zoonotic disease caused by infection with the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Veterinary diagnostic laboratories, including the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) in England and Wales, have traditionally relied on the complement fixation test (CFT) for serological diagnosis. However, Q fever has assumed greater significance in recent years following several large human outbreaks linked to exposure to infected ruminants and it is essential that more reliable tests are introduced to detect the presence of C. burnetii infection in animals. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the performance of 3 commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for detection of antibodies to C. burnetii and to compare the findings with the CFT using a sample panel of 548 sera from sheep, goats, and cattle, including animals of known disease status. The statistical analysis using TAGS (test accuracy in the absence of a gold standard) software and receiver operating characteristic techniques demonstrated that the 3 ELISAs all showed improved sensitivity over the CFT. The test based on ovine antigen demonstrated the best overall performance and therefore, the VLA has adopted this test for routine use.
Q热是一种由伯氏考克斯体感染引起的重要人畜共患病。包括英格兰和威尔士的兽医实验室机构（VLA）在内的兽医诊断实验室，传统上依靠补体结合试验（CFT）进行血清学诊断。然而，近年来，在几起与接触受感染反刍动物有关的大规模人类疫情之后，Q热变得更加重要，因此引入更可靠的检测方法以检测动物中伯氏考克斯体感染的存在至关重要。本研究的目的是评估3种市售酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）检测伯氏考克斯体抗体的性能，并使用包括已知疾病状态动物在内的548份绵羊、山羊和牛血清样本组成的样本组，将结果与补体结合试验进行比较。使用TAGS（无金标准时的检测准确性）软件和受试者工作特征技术进行的统计分析表明，这3种ELISA的敏感性均高于补体结合试验。基于绵羊抗原的检测表现出最佳的总体性能，因此，VLA已采用该检测方法进行常规使用。
