Development and evaluation of a Mycobacterium bovis interferon-γ enzyme- linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay for detection of bovine tuberculosis

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) caused by Mycobacterium difficult to control because of the limited ability of the tuberculin skin test (TST) and ancillary IFN-eta release assay to detect all infected animals. In this study, we aimed to develop an efficient assay based on the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) technique for the diagnosis of bTB, with IFN-eta monoclonal antibodies 3E9 and Bio-labeled 6F8 used as capture and detection an M. bovis-specific antigen, CFP-10-ESAT-6 fusion protein (CE protein), was used. The M. bovis IFN-eta ELISpot assay demonstrated a high level of agreement Fisher Scientific) for detecting bTB. Furthermore, 3 of BOVIGAM ELISA tests, but positive by the ELISpot ELISA+ ELISpot+. These results suggest that the M. infected cattle earlier than the BOVIGAM ELISA test.

Automated summary

This study aimed to develop an efficient assay for the diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis based on the ELISpot technique. The M. bovis IFN-eta ELISpot assay demonstrated a high level of agreement and had the ability to detect infected cattle earlier.