A complement-fixation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as an aid in the serological investigation of enzootic abortion in ewes.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay which detects complement fixed in an antigen/antibody complex (CFELISA) was used to examine sera previously examined by the complement fixation test (CFT) in an investigation of enzootic abortion in ewes (EAE). The CFELISA was easy to perform and did not suffer from the many drawbacks of the CFT. Accepting a CFT titre of > or = 32 to indicate infection, the CFELISA had a sensitivity of 98 per cent and a specificity of 100 per cent; the predictive value of a positive result was 100 per cent and that of a negative result was 98 per cent.