Cysticercus Bovis: Development and Evaluation of Serological Tests and Prevalence at Addis Ababa Abattoir
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Date
2004-06
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Addis Ababauniversity
Abstract
This study was conducted to develop and evaluate serological tests for C. bovis for the
diagnosis in live animals and determine the prevalence in Addis Ababa Abattoir. Postmortem
inspection (PMI), indirect hemagglutinatio test (IHAT), indirect Enzyme-Linked
Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and fecal examination techniques were conducted. A total of
743 serum samples, 522 from Addis Ababa Abattoir, 101 from Repi PLC Dairy Farm and 109
from Yeka-abado Farmers Association were collected and 11 negative controls from France.
Postmortem inspection was conducted on cattle slaughtered from Addis Ababa abattoir, 39
(7.4%) were positive for C. bovis. The hearts of these animals were thoroughly inspected and
live C. bovis cysts were collected for antigen preparation. The protein concentration of the
cyst was measured using the Lowry method. Indirect ELISA was conducted on known
positive and known negative samples and due to shortage and lack of fresh reagents ELISA
was not conducted on the other samples. The cut-off was 0.84 with 100% and 81% sensitivity
and specificity respectively. Parallely IHAT was conducted on positive and negative samples,
and a titre of 1:64 and above was considered as positive. IHAT had 100% and above 91%
sensitivity and specificity respectively and when compared with ELISA it showed better
specificity. Based on this test 149 (28.5%) from the Abattoir, 33 (30.2%) from Yeka-abado
Farmers Association and 8 (7.9%) from Repi PLC Dairy Farm samples were positive for C.
bovis. The prevalence in the two management systems, namely Yeka-abado Farmers
Association and Repi PLC Dairy Farm, was significantly different (p<0.05). The cyst fluid,
protoscolex and cyst membrane were separately evaluated; for antigenic properties and the
fluid was found to have a better discriminating titre. Postmortem inspection for Cysticercus
bovis when compared with the serological tests was less sensitive. For fecal examination, the
sedimentation and flotation techniques were conducted and cross reactivity with other
helminths were either absent or very low. Further refinement and improvement of both
serological test systems is necessary to increase the diagnostic potential.
KEYWORDS: Indirect ELISA, IHAT, Titre, OD, Postmortem inspection, Sensitivity,
Specificity, Cysticercus bovis, Taenia saginata
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Keywords
Indirect ELISA, IHAT, Titre OD, Postmortem inspection, Sensitivity, Specificity, Cysticercus bovis, Taenia saginat