A rapid plaque neutralization test for bluetongue virus.

A bluetongue virus plaque neutralization test, done in small tissue culture wells (2.0 cm2) using minimal antibody-virus contact time, was found to be of comparable sensitivity to more classical methods involving preincubation. By using the cell culture plates as serum dilution wells and adding cells directly to the virus-antibody mixture, a considerable saving in time is realized. Because of the small size of the wells, reagent cost and incubator space requirements are reduced making the test much more attractive for wide scale use, either as a screening test or one that yields dose-response lines.