Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for differentiation of the antibody response of cattle naturally infected with Brucella abortus or vaccinated with strain 19.

Purified O chain of Brucella abortus was passively attached to polystyrene to differentiate antibody responses of cattle vaccinated with B abortus strain 19 from those of naturally infected cattle. In the indirect assay, using O polysaccharide as antigen, a single serum dilution was used and mouse monoclonal antibody to bovine L chain conjugated with horseradish peroxidase was the detection reagent. Measurable antibody was not found in sera of vaccinated cattle, except for 3 sera from cattle that were persistently infected with strain 19. Sera from 25 cattle infected with pathogenic strains contained antibody on the basis of results of indirect enzyme immunoassay, using smooth lipopolysaccharide or O chain as antigens, or results of competitive enzyme immunoassay, using the O-chain antigen. Results in sera from calves with experimentally induced Yersinia enterocolitica serotype 0:9 infection or inoculated with a low dose of B abortus strain 2308 were comparable with those in sera of cattle that were vaccinated with strain 19. The data correlated with those from competitive enzyme immunoassay, using one serum dilution and horseradish peroxidase-conjugated mouse monoclonal antibody to smooth lipopolysaccharide. On the basis of results of the indirect enzyme immunoassay, all sera (except those samples obtained before inoculation) contained antibody to smooth lipopolysaccharide.