Development of a blocking latex agglutination test for the detection of antibodies to chicken anemia virus

A blocking latex agglutination test (b-LAT) developed in this study was evaluated for the detection of antibodies against chicken anemia virus (CAV) in chickens. Polystyrene latex beads were coupled with a neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) to CAV (mAb-beads). When mAb-beads were mixed with antigens prepared from the lysate of MDCC-MSB1 cells infected with CAV, agglutination occurred. A short pre-incubation of CAV antigens with CAV-specific antiserum inhibited the agglutination of mAb-beads. The test results were obtained within 5 min. The specificity of b-LAT was evaluated using sera from specific pathogen-free chickens and sera containing antibodies to avian influenza virus, Newcastle disease virus, infectious bursal disease virus, and Marek's disease virus; nonspecific agglutination and cross-reactivity with antibodies to unrelated viruses were not observed. The examination of 94 serum samples collected from commercial breeder chickens of various ages (17-63 weeks) revealed good agreement (93.6%, Kappa value = 0.82) between b-LAT and a virus neutralization test, known to be most sensitive and specific in the detection of antibodies to CAV. These results indicate that b-LAT, a simple and rapid test, is a useful and reliable tool in CAV serology. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.