A dot immunoblotting assay (dot blot ELISA) for early detection of Newcastle disease antibodies in chickens.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using nitrocellulose blotting membrane (dot blot ELISA) was developed for the detection of antibodies against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in chickens. In this method, a nitrocellulose blotting membrane was used as the solid phase carrier. NDV antigens were directly bound onto the nitrocellulose membrane that was set into a dot blot microfiltration apparatus. Efficiency of the assay was evaluated using known positive and negative NDV sera obtained from chickens. The ability of the assay to detect antibodies 2 days earlier than the standard hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test was demonstrated on sera collected from chickens experimentally infected with NDV, La Sota strain.