Evaluation of a semiautomated latex agglutination test for the detection of pseudorabies antibody in swine sera

Rapid screening of large numbers of swine sera for antibody is an essential element in the current eradication program for pseudorabies in the United States. We evaluated a recently introduced commercial semiautomated latex agglutination test (LAT) kit for pseudorabies antibody. A total of 1,191 swine sera were tested using the new procedure and 3 established tests: the manual LAT, the serum neutralization test (SNT), and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). There was close agreement among results of semiautomated LAT, the manual LAT, and ELISA but less agreement between semiautomated LAT and SNT. Overall, the sensitivities of the 4 tests were as follows: semiautomated LAT = manual LAT > ELISA > SNT. For 74 samples of known pseudorabies antibody status, the overall specificities were as follows: semi-automated LAT = manual LAT = SNT > ELISA. Because of its relative insensitivity, the SNT should no longer be considered the official ''gold'' standard for pseudorabies testing in the on-going eradication program. However, because no single test was perfect for all samples, a scheme including 3 tests in the following sequence is recommended: 1) screening using semiautomated LAT or ELISA and 2) confirmation testing of positives by manual LAT and SNT, with any sample that tests positive by any 2 tests being regarded as true positive.