A solid-phase enzyme linked immunosorbent assay using monoclonal antibodies, for the detection of African swine fever virus antigens and antibodies

An improved solid-phase enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies was developed to detect an African swine fever virus protein (VP73) in pig samples. The use of monoclonal antibodies against VP73 allowed a sensitive and specific sandwich ELISA. This assay detected a limiting antigen concentration of 0.05 mu g/ml of VP73, lower than the detection limit of 0.6 mu g/ml obtained by using polyclonal antibodies by the same ELISA. The whole virus particle was detected with this method to a limit of 2.3 x 10(2) PFU/ml. At the same time, an indirect ELISA was developed to detect ASFV antibodies. The results also indicate that this method may be a useful technique for epidemiological surveys. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.