REVERSE PHASE PASSIVE HAEMAGGLUTINATION AND SINGLE RADIAL IMMUNODIFFUSION TO DETECT EPSILON ANTIGEN OF CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS TYPE D

Authors:
  • KBK. J. Beh
    K. J. Beh
  • SBS.H. Buttery
    S.H. Buttery
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Abstract
SUMMARY Two in vitro immunological assays were developed for detection of the epsilon (∈) antigen of Cl. perfringens type D. It was found that the reverse phase passive haemagglutination assay (RPHA) was able to detect concentrations of ∈‐antigen as low as 6 times 10‐7 mg/ml whereas the single radial immunodiffusion technique (SRID) was capable of detecting concentrations of ∈‐antigen above 0.01 mg/ml.When applied to gut contents from freshly dead infected sheep the RPHA test was found to be more sensitive than the mouse toxicity assay in detecting the presence of ∈‐antigen. However, very low titres were detected in gut contents from normal sheep which meant that in a diagnostic situation interpretation of RPHA titres would be difficult.No ∈‐antigen was detected by SRID in gut contents from normal sheep or in gut contents from freshly dead infected sheep. The SRID assay could detect ∈‐antigen in gut contents from infected sheep allowed to decompose for 20 h post‐mortem.

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