[en] The different serologic techniques for bovine brucellosis diagnosis have different abilities to detect antibodies after vaccination with Brucella abortus strain 19. The humoral response in heifers vaccinated with Brucella abortus strain 19 was evaluated by using several serologic techniques. In the experimental field of INTA, Pilcaniyeu, Rio Negro province, sixteen 5 months old heifers were vaccinated subcutaneously with a standard dose (2ml, containing 20x10⁹ to 10x10⁹ living organisms) of Brucella abortus strain 19. Sera from all the heifers were obtained on 18 occasions (one 87 days before vaccination, one immediately before vaccination and on 16 occasions after vaccination, during 488 days) and analyzed by buffered plate antigen test, rose bengal test, standard tube agglutination test, 2-mercaptoetanol test, complement fixation test, indirect ELISA, and competitive ELISA. Prior vaccination, 100% of the heifers gave negative results in all the techniques used, while 100% of them gave positive reaction in the first sampling after vaccination to all the techniques, with the exception of standard tube agglutination test that showed agglutinating titters of 1/100 or higher (positive threshold) in only 71.4% of the heifers. The indirect ELISA technique showed a reducing percentage of positive animals up until 316 days after vaccination, after which positive results were obtained. The competitive ELISA gave positive results in a variable number of heifers up to 253 days after vaccination when 100% of the sera were negative to this technique. Buffered plate antigen test was the technique that gave positive results for a longest period, being 100% of the animals negative to this technique at 450 days after vaccination. The other serological techniques assayed gave positive results during variable periods of time, intermediate between standard tube agglutination test and buffered plate antigen test. Although the present results were obtained from a limited number of animals, they clearly show that the diagnosis of bovine brucellosis in animals older than 18 months, with the technique used here is not interfered by the residual antibodies after vaccination with strain 19 at 5 months of age. (author)

[en] Control and eradication of bovine brucellosis is usually based on the serological detection of antibodies. In Argentina, the Rose Bengal test (RB) and the Buffered Plate antigen test (BPA) are the two screening test officially recognized, while the 2-mercaptoethanol test (2ME) and the Tube Agglutination test (SAT) are the confirmatory assays currently in use. In order to improve the serological diagnosis of bovine brucellosis in Patagonia, Argentina, an indirect ELISA kit produced by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division was evaluated. Sera from negative non-vaccinated, negative but vaccinated and positive animals were tested by all the above techniques. The specificity of the I-ELISA (99.6% and 99.7%) was similar to that of the BPA, RB, 2ME and Complement Fixation test (CF) when used to test sera from non-vaccinated, negative and vaccinated, negative animals, respectively. The sensitivity of the I-ELISA (98%) was higher than the BPA test (96%) and the CF test (95,2%). The I-ELISA kit evaluated in this study was thought to be a valuable tool for the diagnosis of bovine brucellosis in Patagonia region where little epidemiological information is available about this disease and where large numbers of sera should be tested to obtain such information. (author)