An automated complement fixation test for Brucella ovis in sheep

Authors: Weddell W
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 22, Issue 1-2, pp 1-4, Jan 1974
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant, Sheep
Subject Terms: Bacterial, Disease/defect, Infectious disease, Diagnostic procedures, Notifiable organisms/exotic disease, Reproduction, Zoonosis, Public health
Article class: Scientific Article

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Abstract: Clapp (1955) showed the complement fixation test (C.F.T.) for Brucella ovis in sheep to be well correlated to bacteriological findings in cases where lesions were minimal or absent. His observations were confirmed by Biberstein and McGowan (1958) who found the agglutination test to be less reliable than the C.F.T. in this respect, and stressed the usefulness of the C.F.T. in the detection of asymptomatic shedders of the organism and animals in the incubation stages of the disease. They also pointed out that the detection of such slightly infected individuals would be the one indispensable condition of any successful eradication programme. The manual C.F.T. places considerable demands on trained and experienced laboratory staff, and in the light of experience gained during the New Zealand Bovine Brucellosis Testing Scheme with automated serology, the test for Brucella ovis has been automated. This paper outlines the method of automation and its correlation with the manual test.

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