%0 Journal Article
%T Development and validation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for antibodies against Mycobacterium bovis in european wild boar
%A Olaia Aurtenetxe
%A Marta Barral
%A Joaqu¨ªn Vicente
%A Jos¨¦ de la Fuente
%A Christian Gort¨¢zar
%A Ram¨®n A Juste
%J BMC Veterinary Research
%D 2008
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1746-6148-4-43
%X An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect antibodies against Mycobacterium bovis in wild boar serum was developed and validated on 185 sera from TB positive and negative wild boar. Based on antigen inoculation of captive animals as well as tuberculosis compatible lesions, culture results and molecular analysis of hunted individuals, animals were allocated into two groups: tuberculosis positive group and tuberculosis negative group. After optimization of the positive to negative ratio using different combinations of serum dilutions and conjugate concentrations, the test yielded a sensitivity of 72.60% and a specificity of 96.43% for the best cut-off.Although some negative group animals showed an ELISA positive reaction (< 3%), this assay showed a high potential for accurate diagnosis of TB in wild boar, as its large dynamic range supported a good discriminatory power and a satisfactory balance between sensitivity and specificity.Bovine tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium bovis and other closely related mycobacteria of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, is endemic in many countries. These mycobacteria can infect a wide range of domestic and wild animals [1-3]. Wild animals become increasingly important in the spread and maintenance of M. bovis infection, especially when the efforts to eradicate the disease in livestock have reduced its incidence in domestic cattle [2,4]. The existence of wildlife tuberculosis (TB) reservoirs and the difficulty of controlling the disease in these species is the most important complication in eradication programs [3]. Well known examples of wildlife TB reservoirs include the badger (Meles meles) in the United Kingdom and Ireland [5,6], the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) in New Zealand [3], the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the north of the United States of America [7], the buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in South Africa [8,9], or the bison (Bison bison) in Canada [10].In Spain, TB prevalence is re
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/4/43