Immunoglobulin G antibodies to the antigens of Lucilia cuprina in the sera of fly-struck sheep.

A solid-phase radioimmunoassay was used to demonstrate that sheep with myiasis caused by the larvae of the Australian sheep blowfly, L. cuprina, had serum IgG antibodies to antigens present in an extract of the ground-up larvae. Previously struck animals demonstrated a more severe myiasis than their unstruck counterparts when both groups were subjected to a standard larval challenge. The effects of immunosuppressive therapy were expressed in terms of a decrease in the total number of larvae growing to maturity and in the area of fly strike produced.