Determining a Diagnostic Cut-Off on Fluorescence Polarization Assay (FPA) for Bovine Brucellosis in Carchi, Ecuador

Serology is the foundation of any brucellosis control and eradication program worldwide, thus it is important to define accuracy diagnostics assays and cut-off of those assays, due to variations from country to country and even among specific areas in the country. The variation of cutoff values depended on: prevalence of disease, vaccination status, animal management, and control and eradication programs. Therefore, a cut-off for the diagnosis of bovine brucellosis through fluorescence polarization assay (FPA) in Carchi—Ecuador was determined. The survey has been carried out in Carchi province of Ecuador, who is considered a province of high prevalence of brucellosis and the vaccination status is unknown due to the lack of registers. Sera samples (n = 200) were obtained from individual cows from randomly selected herds. Blood sera were tested through Fluoresce Polarization Assay (FPA) and competitive enzyme-linked inmunosorbent assay (cELISA) as confirmatory test, and then receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was done. The sensitivity and specificity values of FPA were 88.7% and 92.50% respectively using a cut-off of 89.90 mP. Moreover, the area under the curve showed that 92.2% is the probability accuracy of the test. The advantage of the FPA is that it is a test with good