ABSTRACT
Ovine brucellosis due to Brucella ovis is a major cause of economic losses related to milk yield drop, impaired meat production and poor reproductive performance. This study was designed in order to compare the ELISA test and the immunodiffusion in agar gel (AGID) technique in ovine sera from Paulista Ovine Bearer Association registered sheep in the midwest region from São Paulo state, Brazil. The observed results in the AGID test with 2Mercaptoethanol (2-ME) and without 2-Mercaptoethanol and ELISA was correlated to the animals‘ clinical picture. A positivity rate of 1.1% and 12% to AGID, with and without 2-ME, respectively was recorded with 6% of results considered suspicious in ELISA test for the 1,033 analysed serum samples. Considering that ELISA results were of suspect, it cannot be linked with an infected status. The authors reinforce the low agrrement of the tests analysed. The best results were achieved with AGID and ELISA. The associated performance of AGID and ELISA offers a more reliable diagnosis and therefore must be encouraged.
KEY WORDS:
Brucella ovis
; agar gel immunodifusion; ELISA; ovine brucellosis; 2-mercaptoethanol