immunodiffusion test in rift valley fever 1 Standardization of procedure and detection of precipitin antibodies in experimentally infected laboratory animals

An account is given on the possible integration of the gel diffusion test in the serodiagnosis of the Rift Valley Fever. The effect of different variables [saline or buffer, pH of agar medium, different antigen preparations, temperature, dilution of reagents] was studied. A single precipitation line was easily detectable after 24 - 48 hours incubation at room temperature or at 37°C. The specifity of the reaction is discussed in detail and confirmed through the virus isolation from a previously infected sheep herd, whose convalescent sera gave positive reactions when tested with the gel diffusion test