Establishment of Immunopathological Techniques for Zoonoses

News source: National Veterinary Research Institute, Taiwan ROC
For further information: shlee@mail.nvri.gov.tw, 2003-06-01

Rapid Test for Bse in Brain Tissues

This study established a fast and accurate screening technique based on immunopathology to detect bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) from bovine and ovine brain tissues.

Reduces Risk of Bse in Imported Foods

Using this technique, the risk of BSE from imported food would be greatly reduced. In addition, the spread and damage of BSE and rabies would also decrease. In order to meet the requirements of the World Organisation for Animal Health for a BSE-free area, a total of 647 cattle brains aged older than 30 months (4.2 years old in average) were screened. In 2002, a total of 1385 brain sections collected from abattoirs and M. tuberculosis contaminated farms scattered throughout 11 counties, namely Taoyang, Taichung, Chunghwa, Yunling, Nantao, Tainan, Pingtung, Ilan, Taitung, Panfu, and Kingmen, were examined. None of those samples showed spongiform change in pathology. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western immunoblot assay also showed negative results in prion protein. These results will be submitted to the World Organisation for Animal Health to claim that Taiwan is a BSE-free area.

Rapid Test for Rabies Antibodies in Dog Serum

Fifty-six canine brains were also examined in histopathological sections and stained with direct immunofluorescent antibodies, showing negative results. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was applied to detect immunized antibodies to rabies in 4317 dog serum samples. Among those serum samples, 1946 samples were from domestic dogs and 2371 were from stray dogs. Results revealed that 41.0% of domestic dogs and 21.4% of stray dogs were positive in ELISA.

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